These Are the 3 Land Locations in Dispute Between PT KAI and Hercules
The debate over land ownership in the Tanah Abang area has entered a new phase. Two parties are claiming rightful ownership of the highly strategic land location.
PT Kereta Api Indonesia (Persero), or KAI, states that it is the legitimate owner of the disputed land based on Land Management Rights Certificates (HPL) issued in 2008, specifically HPL Number 17 and HPL Number 19.
KAI acquired these HPLs after receiving asset grants from the Department of Transportation (now the Ministry of Transportation) in 1988. The National Land Agency (BPN) then issued the HPLs to the state-owned railway company in 2008.
However, the same land is also claimed by private parties. An heir named Sulaiman Effendi claims to be the legitimate owner of the land, holding colonial-era Dutch land documents, Eigendom Verponding Number 946 from 1923 in the name of Ilias Rajo Mentari.
Compiled from Kompas.com news archives, the total area of the disputed land in Tanah Abang is 4.3 hectares, divided into three adjacent locations.
The first location, measuring 1.3 hectares, is now known as Pasar Tasik, because many seasonal traders selling there originate from Tasikmalaya.
The other two locations consist of two abutting plots, also referred to as vacant lands, with a total area of 3 hectares according to HPL numbers 17 and 19.
These lands are located on Jalan Jembatan Tinggi, directly opposite Blok G Pasar Tanah Abang. Every day, the land is used as a vehicle parking area.
Regarding the boundaries of the land:
Deputy Head of Law and Advocacy for GRIB Jaya and the Heirs, Wilson Collin, expressed objection to being accused of illegally occupying the land.
“The director (KAI President Director Bobby Rasyidin) also said that the illegal occupiers are mass organisations; this is not occupation, because the heirs have reasons,” said Wilson, quoted from the GRIB TV YouTube broadcast.
He emphasised that in the Tanah Abang land dispute case, the heirs of Sulaiman Effendi, who hold the Eigendom Verponding, have never once sold the land to PT KAI.