School building in Yogyakarta to be replaced by shopping mall
School building in Yogyakarta to be replaced by shopping mall
Slamet Susanto, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta
Ambarukmo Elementary School, Sleman, Yogyakarta, will be leveled
to the ground soon, to be replaced by a shopping mall. The plan
by Sleman education office has sparked concern among students and
their parents, as the office has yet to determine a new location
for the students and their teachers.
"Construction of the mall will begin on Monday but it is not
yet clear where we should go from here. Whether the students and
we teachers will get a new school building or will share a
building with another school is not yet clear," Untung Suryono, a
teacher at the school, said on Saturday.
The school building in question is located on Jl. Laksamana
Adi Sutjipto, one of Yogyakarta's main thoroughfares, which
connects Yogyakarta and Solo city.
Untung said that the school had received a notice from the
Sleman education office on Feb. 16 that the developer would start
to erect a zinc fence and cleared some trees in the compound of
the school building on Monday, sending a signal that construction
of the building would commence soon.
"It will disrupt classes," he said. The school has 132
students.
Enny, another teacher, said that the education office had
urged the school to move classes to nearby Catur Tunggal IV
Elementary School, some 500 meters away.
"However, it is not clear when we should move from here," said
Enny.
Not only teachers in the Ambarukmo Elementary School but those
from Catur Tunggal IV Elementary School were also puzzled at the
plan.
Suwardi, a teacher at Catur Tunggal school, said that it would
be impossible for the school to accommodate students from
Ambarukmo. "Our school building is already full. We even have to
divide classes into morning and afternoon shifts," he said.
Catur Tunggal has 425 students, which are divided into 12
classes.
Separately, Sleman regent Ibnu Subiyanto acknowledged that a
large shopping mall would be built at the location, and it would
likely replace the Ambarukmo school. However, he declined to
elaborate, saying that he would spell out the details on the
matter in a media conference either on Monday or Tuesday.
A similar controversy is also raging at present in Jakarta, as
SMPN 56 state junior high school building is set to be leveled to
the ground and the site used for commercial purposes.
The dispute began in 2000, when the Ministry of National
Education and private firm PT Tata Disantara signed a property
transfer deal. The deal swapped the school property on Jl.
Melawai Raya, South Jakarta, with the firm's property in Jeruk
Purut, South Jakarta. Both teachers and students are opposed to
the deal going ahead.