GMS Church Complains Bantul Permit Process Stalled for a Month

The Bantul Regency Government has stated that the Gereja Misi Sejahtera (GMS) Bantul has not yet completed the Sertifikat Laik Fungsi (SLF) and Persetujuan Bangunan Gedung (PBG), which are requirements for a church establishment permit. Meanwhile, GMS claims that the Keterangan Rencana Kota (KRK) from the Bantul Regency Government, which is one of the requirements for the SLF, has been stalled for a month.

“They are still processing the SLF for the building and the PBG,” said Hermawan Setiaji, Assistant for Government and People’s Welfare at the Bantul Regional Secretariat, when contacted on Thursday (8/7/2026). He explained that several requirements for processing both documents have not been completed by GMS. According to him, the permit process can proceed once the requirements are fulfilled. “Yes, that’s correct (regarding the incomplete requirements for processing the SLF and PBG),” he stated.

Meanwhile, Josiah Michael, Public Relations of GMS Central, said that processing the SLF requires a KRK. However, the Bantul Regency Government has yet to issue the KRK. “We have fulfilled all the necessary requirements. Including for the SLF, we are currently in the KRK process, but we also don’t know why it hasn’t been issued yet, even though we were promised it would be issued sooner. It’s been about a month and the KRK still hasn’t been issued,” he said.

As for the PBG, Josiah admitted that GMS already has it but still requires other supporting documents, specifically related to the SLF. “We already have the PBG, it’s just not yet complemented by the SLF, and the KRK is a requirement for the SLF,” he said.

Regarding the Bantul Regency Government’s statement that GMS still needs to complete requirements, Josiah said that every administrative process has its stages. However, in principle, GMS will definitely fulfil all the requirements requested by the Bantul Regency Government. “All requirements have their stages, as I have said before, we have fulfilled what the Bantul Regency Government asked for. If there are any deficiencies later, we will complete them. But until today, nothing has been issued by the Bantul Regency Government, including the KRK,” he said.