Irate house buyers demand developer return their money

JAKARTA (JP): More than 100 customers of Bumi Indah housing complex in Tangerang staged a rally at the developer's office demanding the firm return their housing installments worth billions of rupiah.

The customers swarmed the office of PT Artha Buana Sakti, a member of Bank Harapan Sentosa (BHS) Group located on Jl. Zaenul Arifin, West Jakarta, on Tuesday at 10 a.m. and immediately unfurled banners and posters stating their demands.

Representatives of the customers and two lawyers from the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute, Erna Ratnaningsih and Uli Parulian, were then received by the firm's lawyer Eka Wijaya.

After discussing the matter for almost three hours, Eka left the meeting room, saying he would meet the firm's director because he was unauthorized to make a decision.

The customers followed Eka to another building in the Ketapang Indah office complex. Upon arrival, the customers met Eka and an executive of Artha Buana Sakti, who were about to leave the building.

Suspecting that the developer and his lawyer would deny any accountability, the customers got angry and ran after them.

The company executive, who was unidentified, and lawyer Eka ran away from the angry crowd to an office in Gajah Mada Plaza, about 200 meters from the Ketapang Indah office.

The customers followed them.

They were stopped at the entrance of Gajah Mada Plaza by a cordon of security guards and military personnel.

The blockade almost sparked a serious incident when some of the customers threatened to stone the building and set it ablaze unless they were allowed to meet Eka and his client.

However, some of the crowd managed to calm down their friends.

According to the customers' lawyer Erna, her clients, who represented about 4,000 customers, demanded the company return money they had paid to the developer.

She said the customers had each paid between Rp 5 million (US$666) and Rp 25 million since 1996 to the developer through BHS until the bank was closed by the government in November last year.

"The firm's lawyer keeps promising that the matter will be discussed by the firm in a meeting on Jan. 4 next year," Erna said.

The customers appeared to become more emotional when the lawyer would not guarantee that their money would be returned on Jan. 4, she said.

Erna said the customers would lodge a complaint with the police, claiming the firm had swindled them. (jun)