Humpuss Group refuses to leave disputed buildings

JAKARTA (JP): The widely diversified Humpuss Group has decided to remain in its two multistory buildings on Jl. Medan Merdeka Timur in Central Jakarta.

The two buildings were sealed off by the local authorities last week for violating building usage rights.

President of PT Humpuss Abdul Wahab told reporters on Thursday that the company would sue the city administration if Governor Sutiyoso refused to repeal the order to seal off the seven-story Timor and 18-story Humpuss buildings.

"We have legal certificates for these two buildings and we'll defend our rights.

"That's why we're still here," he said.

The lawsuit, to be filed with the Jakarta State Administrative Court, has been under preparation in case of a deadlock in negotiations to be held between Humpuss and Sutiyoso's office.

"We have sent letters to the administration calling for the revocation of the sealing off and to the City Council speaker to help us regain our rights.

"Unfortunately, we have received no single response so far," he said.

The disputed buildings of Humpuss, a giant business group led by the youngest son of former president Soeharto, Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, were sealed off last Friday morning by a dozen Central Jakarta public order officials in the presence of sorrowful employees of companies housed in the buildings.

The authorities charged the owner of the buildings with violating 1995 Presidential Decree No. 25 on the development of Medan Merdeka Square which forbids private companies from building offices in the area, including along Jl. Medan Merdeka Timur.

The area is designed to be a buffer zone for Medan Merdeka Square against encroaching development.

As of Thursday, or five days after being sealed off, business activities at the two buildings went on as usual.

Red signboards announcing that the buildings have been sealed off remain in place.

A telephone operator of PT Kaltim Methanol Indonesia, a Humpuss subsidiary which has an office in the Humpuss building, said she and her colleagues had not been informed of any plan to move to other premises.

No plan

"Our bosses have not told us anything about such a plan," the female operator, who asked for anonymity, said.

A few days after the sealing off, Governor Sutiyoso repeatedly stated that he was ready to face any consequence of the measure.

"I am ready even if they want to sue me. What I did was just impose the rules," said Sutiyoso, who served as Jakarta military commander and Jakarta governor under Tommy's father, Soeharto.

According to Wahab, the building permits for the two properties were issued by the city administration (under the governorship of Surjadi Soedirdja) two months after the issuance of the 1995 Presidential Decree No. 25.

The documents clearly state that the two buildings would be for office space.

Wahab said it was only two years later that Humpuss got a building usage permit for the two properties, dated Feb. 27, 1997, which declares that the premises should be used for government offices, Wahab said.

Asked whether the company thought to carefully examine the differences in the documents, Wahab said "that is not our task, it is the administration's".

He added that the administration had been unfair because the sealing off was done while Humpuss was still negotiating with the administration for a possible exchange of the two buildings with the city-owned Bank DKI building on Jl. Juanda III in Central Jakarta.

"We had yet to reach an agreement, but then the administration unexpectedly sealed off the buildings," he said.

Initially the authorities gave the buildings' management seven days to arrange for the occupants to remove all their belongings before the buildings were to be temporarily taken over by the authorities until further negotiation.

The administration early this week abruptly changed the arrangement and is allowing one month for the removal of property. (ind)