The Jakarta Post, Friday, April 7, 2006
Creditors and buyers of property in Bukit Sentul, Bogor regency, finally accepted Thursday the settlement offered by the property management company, but the case was adjourned before confirmation by the Commercial Court.
For many, however, the settlement has left a bitter aftertaste because it could mean property owners need to put more money into Bukit Sentul — declared bankrupt by the Commercial Court in October last year for failing to hand over sold property in the appointed time due to financial problems — for it to continue developing the property.
“The situation creates a dilemma for us, because on the one hand we don’t want to see the company bankrupt, but we also feel we should not pay more,” a representative of the property buyers, Muchtar Panjaitan, told The Jakarta Post.
Among the terms in the settlement is that consumers must provide a “loan” of 25 percent of the price of land, or the price of land and buildings, to Bukit Sentul to be used for the continuation of property development.
The terms also said the loan would be paid back in the form of a bond, due in two years, that could only be used to purchase products from Bukit Sentul or products of its partnerships with other developers in the area.
“I really don’t think this is fair, if they want us to pay in cash, they should return the money in cash also, not in products, and especially not their (the company’s) products,” a woman who bought a parcel of land at Bukit Sentul, and refused to be identified, said.
Obligation to other creditors — which includes financial companies, contractors and consultants — would be settled either through asset settlement or a repayment of debts in installments.
However, although the majority of creditors agreed to a settlement, appointed curator Tafrizal Hasan Gewang said that it was still up to the panel of judges to confirm it.
He said the judges would need to determine whether there were any guarantees the settlement terms would be realized, and whether there were administrative conspiracies involved.
