Property dispute may close school

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