Siliwangi residents sue Jakarta governor

Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Dozens of residents of a disputed plot of land on Jl. Senen Raya filed a lawsuit against Governor Sutiyoso for issuing an order to vacate the area in the absence of a valid document to back the eviction, a lawyer said on Thursday.

Reinhard Parapat of the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI), said the case had been filed at the Jakarta State Administrative Court.

"The governor's instruction is not valid because it is based on a forged title certificate, known as Siliwangi housing complex. The current residents are the valid owners of the land," he told a media briefing.

The order, which was signed by Sutiyoso on Oct. 2, instructed the Central Jakarta mayor and the head of Jakarta's Public Order Agency to clear the land. It states that the instruction was based on a land title certificate owned by the Ministry of Finance.

"The certificate was issued in 1988 while the legal dispute over the land was still going on," said Reinhard. "By law, the authorities cannot issue a certificate for disputed land until the matter is settled."

The dispute began in 1981 when the government through the then Ministry of Security and Defense claimed the 9.4-hectare land, which is located right behind the offices of the Ministry of Finance.

There were about 300 families living in the area back then. Most were families of military veterans and officers from the Army, the Air Force, the Navy and the National Police, who had lived there since 1950.

But the number dwindled to 27 families after several evictions. Once in 1984 military troops bulldozed the houses.

Meanwhile on Wednesday, 10 families, heirs of Noto Soewarno, who claimed ownership of a plot of land in Radio Dalam, South Jakarta, filed a complaint with the National Police over the alleged forgery of the land title certificate by publicly listed PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI).

Lawyer Wilmar Sitorus said in 1959, BRI, at that time known as PT Bank Tani and Nelayan, bought the land from Noto Soewarno, but less than half the amount had been paid.

According to Wilmar, PT BRI has never fully settled the payment. However, in 1985, the then Directorate General of Land Affairs issued an ownership certificate for PT BRI.

Noto Soewarno's heirs were prompted to take up the case again when the land was put up for auction by the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency in September.

"We went to the auction, distributing copies of our complaint to the Jakarta Police," said Wilmar. "The potential buyers read it and canceled their bid."