Foundation seeks Rp 110b damages over hospital

Foundation seeks Rp 110b damages over hospital

JAKARTA (JP): The Fatmawati Foundation, former owner of the
Fatmawati Hospital in South Jakarta, is filing a law suit against
three ministries and the city administration over the transfer of
the hospital building to the Ministry of Health.

The plaintiff's lawyer, Djazuli Bachar, told the South Jakarta
District Court yesterday that the foundation demanded Rp 110
billion in compensation for the loss of the building.

"The Ministry of Health has breached an agreement with the
Fatmawati Foundation to jointly manage the hospital. The
agreement was signed in 1967, when the foundation needed funds to
run the hospital," Djazuli said.

Under the agreement, the Ministry of Health should provide the
hospital with doctors, nurses, medical equipment and medicines.

Djazuli said the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of
Agrarian Affairs and the city administration refused to issue a
certificate for the 358,790 square meters of land on which the
hospital stands, as applied for by the foundation. Instead, the
certificate was given to the Ministry of Health.

"We want the court to cancel the Ministry of Health's
ownership of the plot," he added.

The Fatmawati Foundation was founded by former president
Sukarno's wife, Fatmawati, in 1953. The foundation undertakes
social programs.

In the year of its establishment the foundation appropriated
416,000 sq. m. of land, 358,790 sq. m. of which was used to
construct the Fatmawati Hospital. The hospital was built in 1954.

Claim

"Despite the agreement, the Ministry of Health has taken over
the management of Fatmawati Hospital without involving the
Fatmawati Foundation. The Ministry of Health has claimed since
Oct. 1982 that the hospital belongs to the government," Djazuli
said.

The Minister of Health promised to pay compensation to the
foundation for the land and the hospital building, but the
promise had yet to be honored, Djazuli said. Efforts to negotiate
with ministry officials had failed, he added.

The Ministry of Health added buildings to the hospital in 1985
and installed new medical equipment, after claiming that the
hospital belonged to the government, the lawyer added.

The next court session in the case, scheduled for Nov. 2, will
hear from the defense. (29)