Historic sites give way to supermarkets

Nana Rukmana, The Jakarta Post, Cirebon

About 150 protesters have demanded the former mayor of Cirebon be held accountable and taken to court for the destruction of four historic buildings in the old city to make way for supermarkets.

The comments were made during what was supposed to be a seminar on cultural heritage protection but which quickly turned into a free speech forum.

Center for Strategic Studies and Regional Development (PKPSD) director Achmad Subchanuddin Alwy called on the seminar's panelists to stop their presentation and that the 150 participants take concrete steps to demand the former mayor be held accountable.

"During his two consecutive terms of office between 1988 and 1998, Kumedhi converted four historical buildings into supermarkets for business interests," he said.

He named the four buildings, built between 1910 and 1920, as the former military subdistrict office, the former Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI) building, the former Military Police office and the former bus terminal.

The buildings along with the Cirebon sultanate and seaport should be preserved as cultural treasures as was required by the 1992 law on cultural heritage protection, he said.

Moch. Egi Burhanuddin, chairman of the local chapter of the Indonesian Nationalist Student Movement (GMNI), accused Kumedhi of having trampled over the city's historical values, saying he would take the matter to court.

Kumedhi, now an assistant to the secretary of the East Java administration, declined to comment on the criticisms raised.

Agus Al Wilfier, deputy chairman of the Cirebon municipal legislature, said he appreciated the activists' demand, adding he would take the issue to the legislative council to be discussed.

He said the former buildings were part of Cirebon's rich history. Cirebon was one of only a few cities in Indonesia that had established links with other countries before the Dutch colonial era, he said.