No reprieve for finance ministry in illegal demolition lawsuit
JAKARTA (JP): A senior city official overruled on Monday a proposal that the city administration not prosecute the finance ministry for its failure to prevent damages to the former Supreme Court building.
City secretary Fauzi Bowo said the city administration would continue with its plan to take the case to court.
"I agree (with the law and heritage building experts' opinion) that an out-of-court settlement would be a bad precedent, and older buildings would continuously be demolished in the future," he told The Jakarta Post.
"I will contact the city restoration council regarding their proposal that there should be no prosecution, but instead to try and reach an out-of-court settlement," he said, while citing that he had yet to obtain the council's official report.
Fauzi said he would recommend that the finance ministry be penalized and required to repair damages to the building on Jl. Lapangan Banteng Timur, Central Jakarta, which is included on the list of the city's protected buildings.
"But the recommendation that the finance ministry restore the damaged area does not mean that the legal process should be halted.
"That's what I call a win-win solution," he said.
Chairman of the restoration council Wisnu Murti Ardjo said earlier on Friday that the administration would resolve the case out of court by demanding the ministry repair the damages to the protected building. He also suggested that the ministry could continue with the construction of a four-story building at the rear of its office complex.
Wisnu described the city administration's willingness to let the finance ministry continue with the construction of the building, and at the same time restore the damages as a win-win solution.
The decision, he said, was made at a meeting between finance ministry officials and the city restoration council at the city museum and restoration agency office in South Jakarta last Wednesday.
Experts said that based on Law No. 5/1992 on heritage, the officials from the finance ministry could be punished with a maximum jail sentence of 10 years or a Rp 100 million (US$14,285) fine for damaging the rear of the 152-year-old building. The damages occurred to allow construction of the building to house the budget directorate general.
The administration told the ministry to halt construction as the project also needed a building permit. But the plea went unheeded.
When restoration council members visited the scene, no ministry officials met them.
Fauzi said the ministry had sent an official letter last week, apologizing for the damages.
"Of course we forgive them, but that is not enough as we should still take legal action," he said.
Fauzi agreed that the governor should take harsh action against any violation, "but it is not as easy as it looks".
He acknowledged that there were still many corrupt city officials opposed to conservation of protected buildings or the environment within the city.
"I know that there are parties who are not happy with conservation as it means construction projects will drop in number," he said.(ind)