Plaza Senayan to challenge court seizure

Plaza Senayan to challenge court seizure

Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Shoppers gathered in the food court at Plaza Senayan while others
struggled to find a parking space ahead of the breaking of the
fast.

The scene did not reflect the ongoing dispute between the
management of Senayan Square -- consisting of Plaza Senayan, the
Sentral Senayan office building, the Plaza Senayan apartment
towers, the parking lot and food court, and the under-
construction Plaza Senayan Annex Living Stone -- and the
government, as represented by the Bung Karno Sports Complex
Management Board (BPGBK).

The Central Jakarta District Court issued an asset
preservation order on Oct. 15 to prevent the Senayan Square
management from disposing of any assets before a court case
begins. PT Senayan Trikarya Sempana (STS), which manages Senayan
Square, plans to challenge the court order.

"We found many questionable articles in the court order," a
lawyer representing Senayan Square, Gamal Resmanto, said on
Monday.

STS legal affairs manager Teguh Budiono also said the
management was likely to challenge the court order.

"We have no idea what we did to make (BPGBK) sue us," he said.
"We only found out about BPGBK's objections with us from the
media. There was no legal notice."

BPGBK executive director Yasidi Hambali has said the basic
agreement between the BPGBK and Kojima Overseas Asia Pte. Ltd., a
Singaporean-based subsidiary of Japanese real estate Kojima
Cooperation, on the development of the complex was unfair. He
also said that Kojima had failed to develop an athletes' center,
while eight hectares of the 19.2-hectare complex, valued at
US$34.39 million, remained vacant. The board also considered STS
annual rent payment for the site at $400,000 as undervalued.

State Secretary Yusril Ihza Mahendra had also said that the
government demanded Kajima to develop the remaining vacant land
as a part of the agreement.

Teguh acknowledged that the agreement stipulates that Kojima
is obliged to develop the entire complex.

"But the agreement did not state a time frame. On top of that,
we have been discussing the development of the eight hectares of
vacant land. We have completed a proposal to build apartments and
office buildings on the vacant land," he said.

As for an athletes' center, Teguh said Kojima had completed
the construction of the Hotel Atlet Century Park in 1991.

According to Teguh, the STS management did not have to build
another athletes' center as the agreement stated that the area
was designated for commercial purposes.

He added that the agreement also stipulates that should a
dispute occur among the stakeholders, they must solve it
internally.

Kojima owns 70 percent of STS, while BPGBK owns 10 percent.
The remaining 20 percent is owned by developer PT Aditya
Wirabakti, which is largely owned by businessman Herry Wijaya.
Former president Soeharto's daughter Siti Hedijati and
businessman Hashim Djojohadikusumo reportedly own minor shares in
the developer.

"If an internal settlement fails, we will have to go to the
international court of arbitration," Teguh said.