Mayor gives Humpuss one month to vacate building

JAKARTA (JP): Central Jakarta Mayor Andi Subur Abdullah said on Thursday he gave the diversified Humpuss Group of companies one month to vacate its property in the government office complex of the National Monument (Monas) area in Central Jakarta.

"We are still waiting for the companies, under the Humpuss Group, to set a date to vacate the buildings.

"I have met their lawyers to discuss the matter," Andi told reporters on the sidelines of a city coordination meeting at City Hall.

A presidential decree regulates that buildings in the Monas area be occupied only by government agencies. The mayoralty had ordered the property, located on Jl. Medan Merdeka Timur, to be sealed off on March 25 last year.

Last month, the group won a lawsuit at the Jakarta State Administrative Court, which ruled that the mayoralty's decision to seal off the group's twin towers was invalid. The construction of buildings was considered violating city planning ordinances.

"I think we can solve this problem without having to file a suit at court again," the mayor said, when asked what he would do to counter the loss at the administrative court.

Should the talks fail, Andi said, he would take other measures to settle the problem, but did not elaborate further on what they would be.

"I cannot tell you more. Let's hope that the talks will run smoothly to satisfy all the related parties," he said.

Andi acknowledged that the mayoralty's failure to send three warning letters prior to closing the buildings had caused the city administration to lose its case at the administrative court.

"I admit that we were not careful enough when we sealed off the property at the time. It won't happen again," he said.

He said, however, that the administrative court's verdict would not evade the existing regulation which has determined the Monas area is for government agencies only.

"The court's verdict only ruled that the closure of the buildings was unlawful. It did not touch on the gist of the presidential decree.

"And the owner (Humpuss) understands that commercial entities aren't allowed to occupy buildings in the Monas area," he said.

The mayor said the opportunity was now open for new tenants to occupy the buildings after they were cleared of commercial entities.

"We can offer space in the buildings to state institutions, such as ministries or state-owned enterprises. So far, however, there has been no response to acquire space in the buildings yet," he said.

"There was also a proposal to turn the property into a diplomatic center where foreign countries can establish embassies. But no response has been made to that proposal either," he added.

Not all diplomatic missions in Jakarta have their own buildings. Some embassies rent or lease space in commercial office towers. (nvn)