Surakarta Mayor FX Hadi “Rudy” Rudyatmo vowed to keep fighting to keep Sriwedari a public space, as he has reason to believe it won’t be spared once it falls into private hands.

The Surakarta District Court moved to conclude a drawn-out land ownership dispute over the Sriwedari complex by ordering the restoration of rights to the descendants of the heir, RMT Wirjodiningrat, based on a 2016 Supreme Court ruling. The court ordered to seize and vacate the land on Feb. 21, reigniting a dispute that has persisted since 1970.

Rudy’s administration will be working with the prosecutor’s office as the city’s legal counsel to persuade the legal heir not to reclaim the site.

“If they try to force the ruling, it will stir things up in Solo – and the court knows that. Sriwedari belongs to the people; let’s not get to a point where the people will have to fight for it,” the mayor said in Surakarta earlier this week, referring to the city by its colloquial name.

The public will no longer be able to freely enjoy all that Sriwedari offers if the 10-hectare site falls into private ownership, Rudy argued.

“Sriwedari, an icon of Solo, will disappear, along with a number of historical buildings built on the premises. On that site, there is the Wayang Orang Building, the Radya Pustaka Museum and an outdoor park that was always open to the public,” he said.

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