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)