Yemris Fointuna, Kupang – Hundreds of residents in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), demanded on Tuesday the local administration revoke a permit to build a new mosque.
They flocked to the city legislative council, accusing the mosque development committee of having engineered a letter of public consent as a requirement for construction. They said that they had never signed documents supporting the establishment of the mosque.
"We never gave support for the development of the mosque. We demand the administration stop at once. It is not in accordance with regulation," protestor spokesperson Yohanes Lenggu told a meeting at the legislative council.
He said that only three families in the subdistrict supported development of the mosque. "The letter of consent signed by 60 families had been forged," Yohanes said, adding that it was actually a form signed for distribution of meat during for the Idul Adha Sacrifice Day in 2007.
He said that the joint ministerial decree between the religious affairs minister and the home affairs minister required the support of at least 90 families to establish a house of worship around the development site.
Kupang municipal legislative council speaker Viktor Lerik said that the council had once discussed the matter and recommended a temporary stop to the development of the mosque for further verification on the letter of consent. The municipal administration approved continuation of the development.
Indonesian Ulema Council's (MUI) NTT branch chairman Abdul Kadir Makarim said that development of the mosque was legal. "It is developed on a plot of land granted by the Kupang municipal administration. In fact, Mayor Daniel Adoe himself laid the first stone during a ceremony that was also attended by the Kupang Interfaith Communication Forum," Abdul said.
The refusal, according to Abdul, was politically motivated, especially because it was done at a time when the mayor was about to be replaced. "Muslims in NTT in general and in Kupang in particular have been tolerant and have never been troublemakers. Why are we being bothered now as we are developing a house of worship?" Abdul said.