December 12, 2024
JAKARTA – A plan by India to raise an 18-storey building in its diplomatic compound in Jakarta has drawn flak from surrounding residents, who say they are worried that the neighbourhood’s ambience would be affected, and claim that the building permit issued by the local authorities is legally flawed.
Piling work for the project, which would include apartments for Indian diplomats in the country, has been temporarily halted by a ruling on Aug 29 by the State Administrative Court, following a March petition by 24 nearby residents that the permit granted by the Jakarta administration was flawed.
The building permit was issued to the Indian embassy in September 2023. The Jakarta local government has filed an appeal to resume work on the project. The Jakarta administration did not reply to requests for comments by The Straits Times.
The case is making media headlines, as new Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto is preparing to visit New Delhi to attend India’s National Day on Jan 26. He received a personal invitation to attend the event from Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the recently held Group of 20 Summit in Brazil.
The legal tussle and exchange of words between Jakarta residents and the Indian embassy have drawn the attention of a lawmaker in Indonesia’s national Parliament, who urged the nation’s foreign minister to step in as mediator.
“With regard to the ongoing dispute between local residents and the Indian embassy, I want you to become a facilitator and help to resolve this problem,” Ms Andina Thresia Narang, a government MP, said in Parliament on Dec 2, referring to Foreign Affairs Minister Sugiono, who goes by one name.
The lawmaker, who is a member of Parliament’s defence, informatics and foreign affairs committee, said she hoped that the issue would not drag on, to “maintain harmonious relations with India”.
The planned building is located within the 6,916 sq m Indian mission, in the diplomatic enclave of Jalan Rasuna Said.
Apart from other embassies, the upscale neighbourhood also features landed homes, low-rise office blocks and high-rise apartments.
The controversy involving construction of a structure within an embassy compound is rare in Indonesia, with most diplomatic missions going about renovations or new structures away from the public eye and media spotlight.
In London on Dec 9, local officials rejected plans by China for a new, large embassy, saying that could pose a security risk to nearby residents. This has put pressure on the British government to reject the planning application.
In Jakarta, a resident who lives near the Indian mission, Ms Suryani Kurniawan, said that she was initially okay with the embassy’s plan to renovate its building, but opposed the project after learning of the planned 18-storey building.
“We knew later (that) the building would be 18 storeys. We were all shocked. We had never been contacted about this,” she told local television network iNews.
In response to the claims, the Indian embassy said in a Nov 25 statement: “The location of the embassy is surrounded by high-rise buildings… The new building would be consistent with the characteristics of its surroundings.”
The statement said that in India’s capital, New Delhi, the Indonesian embassy has ample designated space for its staff that is located within the embassy’s compound.
“The land provided by the Indian government is adequately spacious, hence it is possible to build a low-rise building,” it stated, noting that in Jakarta, the land allocated to the Indian mission is limited.
“The only feasible solution is to do vertical development with 18 floors to accommodate the operational office and staff housing of the embassy,” it said.
Defending the petition, lawyer David M.L. Tobing, who is representing the residents, told ST: “All parties must comply with the laws, including any foreign diplomatic mission.”
He said the building development approval for the embassy’s project that was issued by the Jakarta administration is legally flawed as it was not preceded by the issuance of a document called the environmental impact assessment (Amdal), as required by law.
Prior written approval from residents near the project is required before an Amdal document can be issued, Mr Tobing has said publicly. This led the developer to get an Amdal document, but that was then challenged by Mr Tobing, who said it was based on approval from residents who do not live near the project
He stressed that prior written approval from “legitimate nearby” residents must be acquired first, as required by the law.
Mr Tobing has suggested “a middle-ground solution”, with the Indian embassy reapplying for a building development permit but with fewer storeys, which would be acceptable to the surrounding residents.
He cited as reference five other embassies next to India’s – Hungary, the Netherlands, Singapore, Switzerland and Poland – whose buildings rise to eight storeys at most and are located on the front sections of their respective land, facing the main road instead of the smaller lanes in the neighbourhood residences.