Koja residents defy demolition of school building
Koja residents defy demolition of school building
JAKARTA (JP): Hundreds of residents of the Koja Utara
subdistrict in North Jakarta greeted visiting members of the City
Council yesterday with banners protesting the demolition of a
school building in the area.
The residents gathered in front of the site where their local
school used to be. The land is owned by the Kemala Bhayangkara
foundation.
The members of the city council's commission E, in charge of
people's welfare, were visiting the Koja Utara subdistrict to
inspect public facilities, such as school buildings, mosques and
cemeteries.
At first commission chairman Atje Mulyadi refused to meet with
the residents, on the basis that the councilors were there only
to inspect public facilities.
Hasan Saman, who led the protesters, said they were there to
complain about the demolition of the Bhayangkara school building,
which had been carried out without warning.
"We are disappointed because the foundation broke its promise,
contained in an agreement signed between us and the foundation,
that it would not demolish the buildings before the end of the
school year," Saman told the councilors.
He said the foundation had lied to the councilors by saying
that it had notified the parents of the school's pupils that the
building was going to be demolished after the Idul Fitri
holidays.
Councilor Atje said the commission regretted the incident and
would summon officials of the foundation and seek an explanation.
About 570 students of Bhayangkara primary, junior high and
technical schools were transferred to other schools in the area
after the foundation decided to demolish the school building to
make way for the construction of a terminal for shipping
containers.
PT Pelindo II announced last year that it intended to
appropriate 90 hectares of land, occupied by around 9,037
families totaling almost 40,000 people, in order to build a new
container harbor in a joint-venture with PT Humpuss, the
diversified business group owned by the President's youngest son,
Hutomo Mandala Putra.
The councilors also visited two private schools yesterday, the
YPPI and Dewi Sartika schools, as well as six state schools.
Atje urged PT Pelindo II not to demolish school buildings
until the construction of new ones had been completed.
The councilors also visited Semper cemetery, which is to
accommodate about 30,100 graves from Dobo cemetery in the Koja
Utara subdistrict.(yns)