Sutiyoso advised to protect Candra Naya building
Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The city's Culture and Museum Agency has recommended that Governor Sutiyoso not issue a permit for the demolition of the Candra Naya building on Jl. Gajah Mada in West Jakarta, but the governor has said he is still undecided on the issue.
Sutiyoso said on Monday he needed to consult with the Land Affairs Office (BPUT) before taking any decision on the building.
"It will be discussed with the BPUT and we will consider the matter thoroughly," Sutiyoso said when asked to comment on the recommendation of the Culture and Museum Agency.
Candra Naya is protected as a cultural heritage building, based on Gubernatorial Decree No. 475/1993. The building is now surrounded by tall sheets of corrugated iron, while an unfinished hotel and a 30-floor apartment block straddle the building.
The Modern Group, which bought the property from the heirs of the Khouw family in 1992, is developing the hotel and apartment block. The company planned to dismantle the old building and reconstruct it at the Taman Mini Indonesia Indah in East Jakarta.
Candra Naya was built at the end of the 18th century by Khouw Tjeng Toan, a well-known and wealthy ethnic Chinese politician.
Nurhadi, the head of the Culture and Museum Agency, said at City Hall on Monday that the people should join the effort to save the building, which he said was a valuable piece of the city's heritage that should be protected.
"If the demolition of the building is allowed, it would be followed by the demolition of other old buildings," Nurhadi said, adding that there were some 240 protected buildings in the city.
He said that if the owners of Candra Naya were allowed to demolish the building, they would not be allowed to construct a new building on the land because his agency would never provide the necessary recommendation to the Building Assessment and Supervisory Agency, which is authorized to issue construction permits.
According to research by the School of Engineering at Tarumanegara University, Candra Naya has about 100 bedrooms, which is unsurprising considering the original owner had 14 consorts and 24 children.
Scott Merrillees, in his book Batavia in Nineteenth Century Photographs, said the last Khouw family member to live in the house was Khouw Kim An, a member of the People's Council (Volksraad) from 1921 to 1931.
He died in 1941 and his son either sold or donated the house to a Chinese social and education organization, Sin Ming Hui, also known as Candra Naya, which became today's Tarumanegara University and Sumber Waras Hospital in West Jakarta.