Moment When Maruarar Sirait and Hercules Debate Over Land in Tanah Abang
Minister of Housing and Settlement Areas Maruarar Sirait briefly debated with Jaya Rosario de Marshal, alias Hercules, the General Chairman of the Gerakan Rakyat Indonesia Bersatu (GRIB), over the ownership of land in Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta.
The moment was captured in a video uploaded to Maruarar’s official Instagram account on 5 April.
In the video, Maruarar is initially seen conversing with several parties, including KAI President Director Bobby Rasyidin. He inquired about the land in Tanah Abang.
“I want to ask Mr President Director, what is the obstacle here? If this belongs to the state and has full legal force, what is the problem?” Maruarar asked.
Bobby replied that the land is currently controlled by a mass organisation.
“This mass organisation occupied it illegally, sir,” Bobby said.
Maruarar then stressed that the state must not lose to such a situation.
“I consider the legal aspect already settled, right? Guaranteed? This is about courage, right? About firmness, right? Just give it to those who are brave. How can the state lose to something like this,” said Maruarar.
Another video clip shows Maruarar and his entourage inspecting a plot of land. At this moment, Maruarar debated with Hercules over the land ownership.
Hercules believed the land does not belong to the state because he has complete evidence.
“So our views differ, I respect Mr Hercules’s view,” said Maruarar.
“We have all complete evidence,” Hercules replied.
“Mr Hercules, I respect your opinion. I came here peacefully, I explained who I am. My goal is to build housing for the people here. Not for developers and so on,” Maruarar stated.
The video clip then shows Hercules explaining about the Land Management Rights (HPL).
“HPL is for managing the land, but not for owning it. If this belongs to the state, I would hand it over today,” said Hercules.
In the caption of his upload, Maruarar stated that the inspection of KAI-owned land in the Tanah Abang area is part of accelerating the provision of housing for the community.
“We emphasise that the state must not lose. Managing the state must be done correctly and bravely. State assets must be maximised for the people’s interests,” Maruarar wrote.
He said the government wants to provide decent, safe, and humane housing, especially for low-income communities.
“Support also comes from the private sector. PT Astra International has expressed readiness to build up to 1,000 housing units through a CSR scheme on KAI-owned land, with the land status remaining state-owned,” he wrote.