Property dispute may close school

BEKASI: The landowner of the plot where state elementary school Karangsetia stands has said he would reclaim the property.

"The fate of hundreds of students is at stake," Bekasi councillor Abdul Rasyad was quoted by Antara news agency on Thursday. "Regent Saleh Manaf should have compensated landowner Apuk Idris in the first place," he added.

It is common practice that the state utilizes private property toward public facilities and compensates the landowner at a later date, but this is not regulated by law.

Apuk has not yet received any compensation for the state's use of his property.

But Apuk, who is also a building developer, said he was reclaiming the land to protest the Bekasi regent, because he was not contracted for a recent renovation of the school financed by the regental administration. -- JP