Renovation of school building

Renovation of school building

JAKARTA (JP): The City Council urged the city administration
yesterday to renovate state junior high school SMP 43 in Mampang
Prapatan, South Jakarta, as soon as possible because the delay
has caused the school's students and teachers to suffer.

Secretary of the City Council's Commission A, in charge of
government affairs, Abdoelhamid Notowidagdo, said that it is
important for the city administration to rebuild the school,
which is located in a disputed land.

"We hope that the school building will be ready in the next
1996/1997 school year," Abdoelhamid said.

Currently, 834 students of the school are forced to study in
other locations due to the dispute.

The problem began when part of the school building was
appropriated by the city administration to make way for the
construction of Mampang flyover.

However, M. Matun, former head of the Mampang Prapatan
subdistrict, claimed that the land belongs to him and built
fences around the 2,200 square meter land, thereby preventing the
students from entering the school.

In the meeting the city administration admitted that it has
not had legitimate papers to prove that the land belongs to the
city administration, but based on a Presidential Decree No.
7/1977, land with managed by any subdistrict chief belongs to the
government. (yns)