The Facebook group pressing to have the bronze statue of President Barack Obama removed from Taman Menteng said recently it would not back down, even though the US head of state is scheduled to visit the country next month.
Heru Nugroho, founder of the online group Turunkan Patung Barack Obama di Taman Menteng (Take Down the Barack Obama Statue at Menteng Park), said that although his group “has no objection to Obama’s visit,” they had no intention of withdrawing their lawsuit.
The group filed a class-action suit on Jan. 22 against the Jakarta provincial government, based on a 2007 bylaw that gives residents the right to take local governments to court on matters regarding the use of public land.
“I wouldn’t mind if Obama found out that some 56,000 people are demanding that his statue be removed from a public park,” Heru said.
“Again, we want to stress that our group is not anti-Obama or anti-America. All we want is to remind the government that putting the statue there was against some people’s principles.”
Abdul Hadi Lubis, who is from the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI), which represents the group, on Thursday said the Jakarta court has sent a letter to Governor Fauzi Bowo and Central Jakarta Mayor Sylvana Muri, summoning them to attend a preliminary hearing scheduled for Thursday.
“It’s all about reviewing the documents,” Lubis said. “But both sides have to attend.”
He said the American president’s visit should not affect the outcome of the group’s lawsuit, because “legal action should be followed through as it is, according to regulations.”
The Jakarta Parks and Cemeteries Agency said it had begun to review a plan to relocate the statue. Sylvana also said that if the public so desired to have the statue moved elsewhere, the Central Jakarta administration would oblige.
On Thursday, the advance team for Obama’s visit began inspecting the US leader’s former elementary school in Menteng
The team included White House staff members and representatives from the US Embassy. They met with officials at SD 1 elementary school and the chairman of its alumni association, Hiramsyah S Thaib.
“We held two meetings — one was an internal meeting with school officials and another with the representatives of the US Embassy,” Hiramsyah told detik.com on Thursday.
The US team surveyed the school’s premises and took phot ographs of the area. Hiramsyah said the school was doing its best to welcome its most famous alumni but dismissed reports that it was planning a major renovation to prepare for Obama’s visit.
Meanwhile, Fauzi said the city has no special plans to mark Obama’s arrival.
“This is not the first time we have received an honorary guest,” he said.
On Wednesday, Minister of Culture and Tourism Jero Wacik said Obama’s visit would help lift the number of foreign arrivals in the country.
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