Gandhi land swap upset residents
Gandhi land swap upset residents
M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Hundreds of people, including women and schoolchildren, took
to the streets of Ancol, North Jakarta, on Wednesday to protest a
plan by the Gandhi Memorial International School's (GMIS) to take
possession of two state elementary schools and in return build a
replacement school elsewhere.
The protesters, who claimed to be residents of five community
units (RW) in Ancol subdistrict, demanded that the land-swap plan
be aborted because it would leave children in the area with no
low-cost schooling.
On Feb. 24, based on a request of the GMIS management,
Pademangan district head A. Maddusil recommended the North
Jakarta city administration approve a plan by the international
school to acquire the building of SD 01 and SD 02 Pademangan
under the scheme of a land-swap deal.
According to the recommendation, a new school building will
be constructed at a new location in exchange for the land.
"If the schools are taken over, where will my children attend
classes? This is the only school that charges low fees," said
Warni, a mother of a third grader in SD 01.
She claimed that the new school would be located far away from
the neighborhood.
"The new school will likely be constructed on a bustling
street, which is very dangerous for children," she said.
The protesters were also infuriated that, in a bid to persuade
the city administration to approve the plan, the district head
gave false information about the two state schools.
"In the recommendation, Madussil stated that the number of
students at SD 01 and SD 02 was decreasing, but in fact both
schools are so crowded that the school management holds classes
in two shifts," A. Dahlan, a member of Pademangan subdistrict
council, told reporters.
About 750 pupils attend the schools, which stand on a 4,500-
meter plot. It abuts a soccer field owned by GMIS.
He also doubted that a new school would be built, saying that
the land had not been designated and therefore did not exist.
Separately, the chairman of GMIS, Suresh G. Vaswani, said the
local residents were overreacting to the planned land swap.
"If the plan is materialized, we will provide the local
residents with a new school building that is close to their
houses," he told The Jakarta Post.
He said that the approval for the takeover was fully in the
hands of the city administration.