Kiblat to sue partner over land dispute
Kiblat to sue partner over land dispute
JAKARTA (JP): The management of Kiblat magazine said they will
file a law suit against their partner, the Indonesian Haj
Pilgrimage Foundation (PHI), for arbitrarily terminating a
working contract between the two parties.
Hari Utomo, the circulation manager of Kiblat, told The
Jakarta Post here yesterday that the Ya Bunayya Foundation, a co-
publisher of Kiblat, and PHI had initially signed an agreement to
jointly publish some Islamic bulletins in 1988.
"How could they suddenly sell the building without discussing
the matter with us," Hari said, adding that the agreement enabled
PHI, the owner of the land, to let Kiblat use and renovate the
building for 18 years.
"It breaks our build-operate-and-transfer agreement," he
added.
Earlier reports said that PHI had sold the 514-square-meter
Kiblat Center building to the state-owned Bank Dagang Negara
(BDN) which apparently wants to use the plot to enlarge its
headquarters on Jl. M.H. Thamrin, Central Jakarta.
BDN's headquarters is located just behind Kiblat's office and
some other buildings on Jl. H. Agus Salim, which is popularly
known as Jl. Sabang.
Tension
Amid the dispute between Kiblat, PHI and BDN, dozens of street
thugs who claimed to work for PT Technodev Inti Utama legal
consultant, suddenly invaded the building on Friday evening.
Armed with hammers, they stormed the two-story building,
demolished the walls, smashed down the doors and shattered the
windows of the building.
Technodev acknowledged that they represent BDN in the dispute.
"We have already renovated the building, installed an air-
conditioning system and ran the magazine over the last six years.
Of course, they cannot end the contract," Hari bitterly
complained.
The total 3,500-square-meter disputed area encompasses a
number of stores on Jl. Sabang which include the Kiblat Center,
the Ramayana department store, the Srivishnu tailor, the Fashion
Spot store, the Hot Pot Garden and the Jakarta Fried Chicken
restaurants.
Technodev's president, Rosaline Handayani, whose office is
located in a building in the Harmoni area, Central Jakarta, was
not available for comments.
Around two dozen personnel of Technodev were seen gathering in
the compounds of the disputed area yesterday morning.
Two of them, guarding the front gate of the building, forced
every visitor to fill in a guest book.
"They insisted that we leave the building immediately," Hari
said, adding that so far no injuries had been reported.
Subagyo Karsono, the president of BDN, whose chapters in
Jakarta have reached more than 50, was not available for comment
yesterday.
One of his staffers said that he held a regular meeting with
other executives of the bank.
Meanwhile, another reporter of Kiblat said that the thugs
apparently just wanted to intimidate and harass residents of the
3,500-square-meter land, hoping they would be frightened and
eventually leave the area.
Kiblat biweekly, established in 1966, was jointly published by
the Ya Bunayya Foundation and the Kiblat Publisher Foundation.
Its current circulation is 20,000 throughout the country.
Kiblat Center is located at Jl. Sabang 24, between the
Ramayana department store and a local music shop. (09)