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hard-line group and residents of Baciro subdistrict, Yogyakarta, have rejected a plan by Jehovah'€™s Witness followers to build a place of worship in their neighborhood, arguing that they have not received permission to do so.

According to the plan, the 9 meter by 21 m place of worship, known as a Kingdom Hall, will be built on a 733 square-meter plot on Jl. Gondosuli, Baciro. On Tuesday evening, dozens of members of the Islamic Jihad Front (FJI) and locals organized a meeting at the nearby Sonyoragi Mosque and then placed a banner expressing their opposition on the fence of the site where the Kingdom Hall would be built.

'€œWe held the meeting to support those who are against the construction plan,'€ FJI field coordinator Abdulrahman said on Tuesday night.

He said he was suspicious that the construction committee might have withheld information regarding the Kingdom Hall'€™s construction plan.

'€œThe committee had asked locals to sign a document in support of a seminar but it was later used to obtain a building license for the place of worship,'€ he said.

Abdulrahman also said that the FJI had been invited by locals to contribute its support but Hamid Triyanto from the mosque'€™s management said he knew nothing about the invitation.

The Baciro subdistrict administration said it had not been informed that the FJI was invited to the meeting.

According to an investigation by The Jakarta Post, the Kingdom Hall construction committee, chaired by Pramoko Firmanto, had proposed the construction in 2010.

It has as well enclosed written support from 60 people in the neighborhood and support from a minimum of 90 worshipers who would use the place of worship as required by the prevailing laws.

The committee has also received a recommendation letter from the Yogyakarta City Interfaith Harmony Forum (FKUB) as well as a letter from the municipal office of the Religious Affairs Ministry stating that there were no objections to the construction plan.

'€œFrom a procedural point of view, there is no problem with the construction of the house of worship,'€ Baciro subdistrict head Budi Warsono said.

Yet, Budi also said that on March 4, 2011, as many as 111 people from Baciro subdistrict had signed a letter sent to the Yogyakarta mayor that stated their objection to the construction plan.

In the letter, they argued that the majority of Kingdom Hall worshipers came from outside Baciro and that the house of worship would disturb religious harmony in the neighborhood as it would be constructed near Sonyoragi Mosque.

Budi also said that in a letter sent to him in 2011, Pramoko explained that the Jehovah'€™s Witness followers had been peacefully using the home of a local named Ayub as a place of worship for over 20 years.

They wanted to turn the house into an official house of worship and had demolished Ayub'€™s house to do so.

'€œPak Ayub is a good man. That'€™s why locals did not object when they were asked for support for the construction of the house of worship,'€ Budi said.

Neither Ayub nor Pramoko were available for comment.

Commenting on this, interfaith activist Elga Sarapung of Dian/Interfidei said that if the construction committee had followed all the procedures, then locals would have no right to protest. She said the move could taint the province'€™s harmonious inter-religious relationships.

Separately, Yogyakarta Mayor Haryadi Suyuti said that he was informed on the matter and would try to mediate between the conflicting parties.

'€œWe are looking into the matter. Things will become more clear next week,'€ Haryadi said.

Cases of religious intolerance have been rampant across Indonesia in the past few years. The cases have included efforts to disrupt Christmas celebrations, the ban on the establishment of an Ahmadiyah house of worship and accusations that the teachings of Shia communities were deviant.