House to question evacuation of shopping bridge
House to question evacuation of shopping bridge
JAKARTA (JP): Legislators have pledged to demand an explanation from the city mayoralty over Monday's evacuation of 60 shop owners from a pedestrian walkway.
"Be sure to give me a call if you are denied entry to your shops tomorrow," Popo Sonadar Haroen, a legislator from the Indonesian Democratic Party faction who met ten shop owners clinging to thin hopes of seeking justice, at the House of Representatives yesterday.
City authorities sealed the Glodok Metro Bridge Monday because the shop owners had failed to pay their lease on time, according to West Jakarta Mayor Sutardjianto.
The evacuation was the climax of weeks of dispute between the shop owners and PT Binacitra Tataswati, a private firm appointed by the government to manage the city-owned pedestrian walkway shopping strip.
Shop owners now have no access to the strip located in the city's bustling commercial district in Chinatown, West Jakarta.
"Only those who have agreed to rent from PT Binacitra are allowed to open their shops," Ming Ming, former owner of a calculator shop told the Post on Tuesday.
The dispute stemmed from a disagreement over the lease offered by PT Binacitra which the shop owners found to be excessive. They filed two law suits over the dispute last Tuesday.
"It's pure evil we're dealing with," Gunawan Tjahjadi, one of the shop owners' lawyers said, referring to what he perceived as PT Binacitra's insidious strategy.
Many shop owners were coerced last Saturday to withdraw their law suits if they agreed to the lease offered by PT Binacitra, said Gunawan.
"From a community of more than fifty, we are down to ten," Ming Ming said referring to shop owners who are determined to fight.
Halim, another shop owner, said that security personnel had changed the locks of the shops following the evacuation and had put marks on the doors indicating which shops had paid their leases.
Legislators also promised to continue to demand legal evidence from PT Binacitra. The company has never responded to legislators' earlier request to have access to their legal documents.
"Unless we know PT Binacitra's legal status, we can't prevent ourselves from accusing the company of manipulating civil servants as well as questioning the integrity of officers involved," said Popo.
Shop owners lawyers suspect foul play in Monday's evacuation process. Servitius Sadipun, head of the defense lawyers' team, told legislators that the West Jakarta mayor had claimed ignorance of the evacuation.
"We suspect that the security personnel evacuating the strip were an unauthorized party dressed in city administrator's uniform," said Servitius.
The shop owners also expressed their grievances to legislators from the United Development Party faction. (14)