House cleared after student occupation

JAKARTA (JP): Staff members literally began picking up the pieces at the House of Representatives (DPR) over the weekend in the aftermath of the compound's five-day "occupation" by students.

The student takeover of the DPR not only helped end the 32- year presidency of Soeharto, but apparently caused severe damage to the "people's" building which will likely hamper planned legislative meetings in the near future.

The House's secretariat general began cataloging the damages to the more than 30-year-old compound.

FX Soebandrio, public relations chief of the secretariat, said the students created a great deal of damage.

"The student occupation has caused a lot of material damage to four main structures at the House compound. The damages and the loss of electronic equipment will certainly affect the House's daily activities," he said in a statement here Saturday.

The occupation ended only in the wee hours of Saturday morning when thousands of soldiers flushed out the remaining students in the compound.

The House compound on Jl. Gatot Subroto, Central Jakarta, has been a silent witness to many momentous decisions made by the country's legislators and leaders in the past three decades.

What was originally a relatively modest 8,000-square-meter facility has now been transformed into a grand complex covering 42,000 square meters.

Construction of the Grahatama, with its green roof shaped to resemble the wings of a giant bird in flight, began in April 1965.

It was opened for use in March 1967.

Supporting facilities now include the legislators' Lokawirasabha office building, the Ganagraha commission meeting hall, the Grahakarana auditorium and the Pustakaloka library.

The newest addition to the compound is a 24-story tower, the Lokawirasabha Tama tower, next to a previously built three-story building.

The recently completed Lokawirashaba Tama tower cost more than Rp 116 billion in taxpayer funds and was officially opened in March 1997.

The construction of the tower was carried out by Citra-Adhi Joint Operation, a joint venture of PT Citra Lamtoro Gung Persada owned by (former president) Soeharto's eldest daughter Siti Hardijanti Rukmana and the state-owned PT Adhi-Karya.

Crystal

Soebandrio said all the glass doors in the Grahasabha Paripurna, the main assembly hall where legislators and members of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) hold general sessions, were damaged.

A set of crystal lights at the Grahatama structure was also badly damaged.

He said that most automatic electric and glass doors in the multistory Lokawirasabha building were also badly damaged.

All copies of the House's important documents are stored in this building.

Almost all computers, facsimile machines and lights at the Grahakarana auditorium were also out of order and needed immediate repair, he said.

Soebandrio said the secretariat was also searching for two television cameras and three sound system sets that were seized by students in their free speech forum during the five-day occupation.

Apart from the buildings, there was also damage to the grounds in the front and back of the complex which became the home to over 30,000 students at one point last week.

The House secretariat has yet to estimate the value of the material losses and the amount needed for repairs.

On Saturday morning, dozens of workers were deployed to clean up the garbage accumulated in the compound.

Piles of mineral bottles, paper, boxes and other materials were lying about. By yesterday afternoon the front of the compound looked cleaner. (rms)