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)