T

he Banyumas administration in Central Java plans to demolish 19 premises of the country'€™s largest minimarket chain '€” Indomaret '€” across the region, arguing that the stores do not have some of the licenses required by a regional bylaw.

The regional administration'€™s secretary, Wahyu Budi Saptono, said the stern action would be imposed because the minimarket operator, PT Indomarco Prismatama, had ignored the administration'€™s verbal and written warnings regarding licensing obligations.

'€œWe have warned them repeatedly but they never pay attention,'€ Wahyu told reporters over the weekend.

The administration has even sealed the minimarkets several times.

'€œBut they removed the seals and reopened the stores without giving any prior notice to us. They did not have good intentions,'€ Wahyu said.

He said the numerous regulations that the Indomaret minimarkets had failed to meet included environmental licenses, modern shop business licenses and building permits.

Some of the premises were considered to have violated Bylaw No. 3/2010 on traditional market, modern shop and department store supervision.

Wahyu said the demolition sanction would take place on Sept. 22.

The 19 minimarkets, he said, were spread across Banyumas, from towns to villages. They accounted for about 50 percent of the total number of Indomaret shops operating in the regency.

Separately, a PT Indomarco legal representative said the operator would take legal steps if the regional administration demolished its stores.

'€œWe will not stand back and watch the injustice. We will fight through the Purwokerto and Banyumas district courts if they demolish the stores,'€ said the company'€™s lawyer, Joko Santoso, adding that he could also report the regency to the police for committing vandalism.

Commenting on the licensing of the minimarkets, as required by the regional administration, Joko said that his client had been working on obtaining the necessary requirements.