A Christian organization in Indonesia is appealing a decision to revoke its construction permits, asserting the revocations were unlawful, sources said.
The Surakarta Blessed Family Foundation (YKAS), an affiliate of the Bethel Indonesia Church, filed the administrative appeal against the Karanganyar Regency in Central Java on Jan. 7. The regency had revoked five of seven Building Construction Approvals (BCAs) for construction of the Holyland Bukit Doa religious tourism compound in Karangturi village, Gondangrejo Sub-District that had been issued on Dec. 24.
The appeal was based on YKAS’s conviction that revocation of the BCAs was unlawful as the Christian group had met all documentation requirements. Following the Jan. 7 appeal filing, the Karanganyar Regency government was supposed to resolve the case within 10 days. Lack of action allowed YKAS’s attorneys to file a lawsuit with the State Administrative Court.
“The revocation of the five BCAs, which were issued, then corrected, postponed and finally revoked within just three days, constitutes an arbitrary act because there was no room for dialogue with the Surakarta Blessed Family Foundation, the administrator,” said the chairman of the Ansor Youth Movement Legal Aids Institute (LBH GP Ansor), Dendy Zuhairil Finsa, according to KrJogya.com.
Dendy said the decision to revoke the five BCAs was arbitrary.
YKAS had obtained the BCAs in 2024 and began constructing several facilities in the compound: a church building, prayer hill, boarding house, theological school and sports hall. Protests and mass opposition began with construction underway and nearly 80 percent completed.
Meantime, BCAs were not revoked for a yet unbegun nursing home and a church building in nearby Plesungan village, Gondangrejo Sub-District, Karanganyar Regency, according to Kompas.com.
LBH GP Ansor’s Dendy said he suspects pressure from various groups was influencing local government policy.
“We suspect there is fear of pressure from mass organizations,” Dendy said, according to KrJogya.com. “This is evident from the delays and revocations of permits. The local government appears to be lacking in neutrality.”
He added that LBH GP Ansor had discovered a letter from the Karanganyar Islamic Community Army (Laskar Umat Islam Karanganyar, LAKIK) “that does not provide space for dialogue and has the potential to lead to acts of intolerance against the right to worship.”
The issue sparked a reaction from the Interfaith Brotherhood (Persaudaraan Lintas Agama, or PLA), whose coordinator, Setiawan Budi, called it a bad precedent for legal certainty in Karanganyar Regency.
“This is a form of alleged arbitrariness,” Setiawan said. “A legal administrative law product was suddenly suspended and then revoked by the agency that issued it. Something like this should never have happened.”
Rober Christanto, regent of Karanganyar Regency, expressed his respect for groups opposing the Holyland Bukit Doa project. After postponing construction on Sept. 2, he had informed them that he would review the case, TribunJatim.com reported.
“We are grateful for the input from various parties, and we will discuss it together,” Rober had said in September. “The issue is not just the government’s but also the responsibility of all the residents of Karanganyar Regency. Hopefully, we can find the right steps for all of us. By conducting this review, we have a clear perspective on this issue.”
Voices of Rejection
Several groups were opposed to the development of Holyland City.
The Gondangrejo Islamic Community United Forum (Forum Umat Islam Gondangrejo Bersatu, FUIGB) in Karanganyar Regency, the Solo Raya Islamic Forum Community and the Karanganyar Islamic Community Army have all voiced their opposition.
A representative of LAKIK expressed his group’s concerns in a video.
“We call on Muslims everywhere to reject this project because it will be a religious disaster for the future of the Muslim community, our children and grandchildren,” he states in the video, claiming the site was located on 40 to 47 hectares of land in an area whose population was 99 percent Muslim, and therefore that any development should be Islamic, TribunSolo.com reported.
In Karangturi village, site of the Holyland City construction, 99 percent of the residents are Muslim, “and we object to this project,” a member of FUIGB identified only as Mustakim reportedly said, adding that the 2006 Joint Decree of the Two Ministers requires that 90 residents use the place of worship.
A resident identified only as Suyatman also objected to Karanganyar Regency police about the project, saying there was a discrepancy between the signatures on the building construction documents and those of the residents, FokusJateng.com reported.
Following the issues with the building permit, Timotius Suyadi, secretary of the Karanganyar Regional Government and the regency’s second-highest official, resigned from his position. He had previously served as the acting regent of Karanganyar. Without further explanation, he said he had opted to become and expert staff to the regent, according to Tribunsolo.com.
A Karangturi village head secretary identified only as Muhtar stated that, administratively, construction of Holyland was legal, having received approval from the Karanganyar Regent on April 19, 2024, and June 13, 2024. Three buildings, he said were legally permitted: the prayer hill, the Indonesian Bethel Church and a theological college.
On Sept. 2, however, the Karanganyar regent issued a decree temporarily halting construction of Holyland Bukit Doa following demonstrations against its construction, Muhtar said.
“We were halfway through construction, and then there were these disturbances,” Muhtar reportedly said on Sept. 23. “We didn’t know about them, and then the Regent’s Decree temporarily halted construction of the prayer hill, even though three permits already existed: the prayer hill, the church and the boarding school.”
He stated that there were no complaints from residents about project activities during the construction period, according to Kompas.com. In fact, he said, residents were involved in maintaining the project and managing the equipment. He said he therefore believed rejection was due only to the issue of building a place of worship.
