T

he Jakarta administration sealed Tebet Green, a shopping mall in Tebet, South Jakarta, on Thursday, claiming that the property lacked a building worthiness certificate (SLF).

Jakarta Spatial Planning Agency supervision unit head Bayu Aji said Thursday the shopping mall could not operate the building without the certificate.

'€œThe SLF application should have been filed immediately after the management got the IMB [building permit],'€ Bayu told reporters at Tebet Green shopping mall, which opened in November 2011.

Bayu added the agency had sent official warning letters to building management and asked them to get the certificate as soon as possible.

Article 148 of Jakarta Bylaw No. 7/2010 on buildings stipulates that an SLF is required to operate a building, but that it can be obtained after construction has been finished.

Bayu said according to the bylaw, buildings '€” including private homes '€” had to pass regular architecture, construction and electrical installation tests; every five years for commercial buildings and every 10 years for residential buildings.

'€œI cannot understand why they have yet to obtain the certificate. As long as they don'€™t have it, the building will remain sealed and cannot be operated,'€ he said.

The five-story shopping mall is located in a heavily trafficked neighborhood on Jl. MT Haryono.

However, despite two red banners that read '€œThis building is sealed'€ at the front entrance, business activities in the mall ran normally on Thursday.

Stores like ACE Hardware, Starbucks Coffee, Burger King and Superindo opened normally as well.

Two men in military uniform handed out flyers explaining the legal situation.

Both the commercial building and the 7,475-square-meter plot where it sits are owned by Yayasan Dharma Pemuda Kostrad (YDPK), a foundation run by the Army Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad).

The foundation'€™s head, Asrul Zainuddin, said the foundation had signed an agreement with management firm PT Wahana Cipta Sentosa Sejahtera in 2009. Effective for 30 years, the requires the management firm to build an 18-story building before February 2016. The building would be designed hold a shopping center, an office building, a hotel and a meeting hall called Darma Putra Hall.

'€œHowever, as you can see, here the building only has five floors. Since 2011 and there has been no sign of further development,'€ Asrul said, pointing to unfinished construction at the top of the building.

He added that if the management discontinued construction, the agreement would be revoked and the foundation would '€œtake over the building'€.

Separately, the mall'€™s operational manager, Eko Priyono, said management had submitted the application for an SLF but the agency had rejected the application.

'€œThe agency claims our SLF application has been turned down, but they have never shown us the official documents,'€ he said.

He added it was the up to the investor to decide whether to proceed with construction as stipulated by the agreement with the YDPK.