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)