Jakarta – With help from a prominent lawyer who stepped in to negotiate with the Jakarta governor, a building supervisory agency's plan to seal the "private residential" office of Greenpeace Indonesia in Kemang, South Jakarta, has been postponed to May 2012.

South Jakarta Building Construction Supervision and Regulation Agency (P2B) chief Widyo Dwiyono said the agency had received a letter requesting for the postponement from Greenpeace. In the letter, Greenpeace said it would move out in May 2012, when its office lease was due to expire.

"I won't seal off the office as instructed by my superiors," Widyo says in a press statement on received Tuesday by tempointeraktif.com.

Earlier, the agency planned to close the Greenpeace headquarters in Kemang, South Jakarta, arguing that the local unit of the Netherlands-based environmental NGO had turned what should have been a private residence in North Kemang into an office building. Greenpeace moved to the area last year from Cikini in Central Jakarta.

The organization appointed prominent lawyer Adnan Buyung Nasution to discuss the matter with Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo. During the discussion, Adnan urged the city administration not to close the office down until its lease expired.