Surjadi dismisses threat by Kemang building owners

JAKARTA (JP): Governor Surjadi Soedirdja told the owners of shops and businesses in Kemang, South Jakarta, to go ahead and sue the city.

He was responding yesterday to a threat made by the owner of a beauty parlor in Kemang on Tuesday, to sue the mayoralty for posting a closure notice on his premises.

"Go ahead. We will refer to the regulations (on the sealing of businesses)," Surjadi said.

On Tuesday, the South Jakarta mayoralty sealed eight buildings on Jl. Kemang Raya. Five were shut down last week.

The notices pasted on buildings said city rules prohibited the use of homes for businesses, and violators of these rules could face prosecution.

Officials told the building owners they had a week to close. The city says they are being closed because they do not have the required permits, or are operating on housing permits.

Johny Mallato, who owns Talent salon, said he had paid an official Rp 3.5 million for his permits.

An employee from the Dela gallery said she would withdraw her signature as witness to the pasting of the notice, because she was forced to sign.

Surjadi said he understood that some owners were tense because of the shut-downs.

He said the issue of permits had gone out of control.

"As one party was given a permit, more arrived seeking permits," Surjadi said.

However he said the municipality was determined to continue closing unlicensed businesses in Kemang.

Temporary

He said existing establishments with temporary permits would be allowed to operate until their permits expired.

Surjadi issued a March 18 instruction to put building permits in Kemang in order and said the same rule would apply to other residential areas.

The "status quo" instruction ordered all city offices with authority to issue permits, to temporarily stop issuing new ones while the city checked the existing permits.

Business owners in Kemang want to know why the permits were easy to get, and why were new businesses allowed to pop up if Kemang was supposed to be a residential area.

Fifteen percent of the buildings in residential areas are allowed to be no residential. The city says 90 percent of Kemang's 123 buildings house businesses.

The Governor was speaking after a certification ceremony. At the ceremony he accepted an ISO 9002 certificate for industry equipment supplier PT Rheem Indonesia. The city has a 30 percent share in PT Rheem Indonesia.

The certificate was awarded by Sucofindo International Certification Services. (ste)