Feeling Fooled, Tirtoyoso Residents Reject Victoria Efata Church Construction, Gibran 'Jokowi' Steps In: We Check!

JAKARTA - A group of residents objected to the construction of the Victoria Efata Church (GVI EFATA) in Tirtoyoso RT03/ RW13 Manahan, Banjarsari, Surakarta, Central Java. This action of rejection was widely circulated on social media and became a public conversation.

Reporting from Sahabatkatolik.com, the form of refusal was written in an application letter addressed to the Chair of the Surakarta City FKUB. Residents who refused to be accompanied by Public Relations of the Surakarta Islamic Community (LUIS), Endro Sudarsono.

There were 10 points of rejection from Tirtoyoso residents. They protested because they felt they had been lied to over the permitting process for the church construction. The rejection letter is claimed to have been sent to the Surakarta city government recently.

The Mayor of Solo, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, paid attention to this rejection claim. This was conveyed through a comment on the Instagram account of a Catholic friend quoted on Friday, August 13.

"We Check," said Gibran via his Instagram account @gibran_rakabuming.

"Thank you, mayor," replied the @friendskatolik account.

The 10 reasons for the refusal of a group of residents are:

1. The old house of worship is a rented house that does not belong to the Church.

2. The majority of the congregation is from outside.

3. Unqualified/inappropriate parking space.

4. The access road / residents' road is narrow.

5. The location is very close to people's houses and mosques.

6. The majority of residents of Tirtoyoso RT 03 RW 13 are almost 96% Muslim majority.

7. From the beginning the Church Management has lied to local residents, coming to people's homes / door to door to ask for signatures and photocopies of ID cards for all the houses they live in. With the reason for the requirements of the IMB Establish a family residence.

8. Previously, the Church Management had never held a community meeting in Bale, a community meeting in RT 03 RW 13 Tirtoyoso Manahan.

9. There is no transparency/openness if the Chair of RT 03 and Chair of RW 13 have given signatures for the permit for Church IMB.

10. So far, residents feel they have been lied to and they reject the construction of the EFATA Indonesian Victory Church in Tirtoyoso village, RT 03 RW 13, Manahan.