On Monday, residents and the management of the Sudirman Mansion apartment building in SCBD put up a giant banner on the side of their building saying that their children couldn’t sleep because of the noise from nearby rooftop bar Lucy in the Sky. We thought their public battle over noise pollution was over after media reports that the banner had been taken down because an agreement had been made between the apartment and the nightclub to have Lucy in the Sky soundproof its venue within the next two weeks.
However, it seems as though those reports about peace being reached between the two groups might have been mistaken. A new giant banner has been raised on Sudirman Mansion and the residents of the apartment have gotten a new ally in their fight, businessman (and possibly Gerindra’s candidate for governor of Jakarta in the 2017 elections) Sandiaga Uno, who used the issue to launch an attack on his rival and current governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama.
The new sign translates to, “We have insomnia and had to evacuate because of Lucy in the Sky // Tyranny of the bourgeois”
In his Instagram post, Sandiaga says that he has friends who live in Sudirman Mansion who say that the agreement that was previously reported on never happened and that Lucy doesn’t have a license to operate at all.
Sandiaga’s friends claim the lurah (neighborhood head) who supposedly made the agreement is lying about the agreement and that both the lurah and governor Ahok are wrong in saying the situation has been resolved.
The politician then uses the opportunity to attack Ahok, asking “Why is the governor so out of touch?”
His friends’ accusation that the lurah, a civil servant, was lying about the agreement seems like a rather serious charge and one that Sandiaga perhaps should have checked out for himself rather than simply repeating it on social media.
Merdeka also quoted the deputy head of Jakarta’s Satpol PP, Yani Wahyu Purwoko, saying on Tuesday that an agreement had been reached by both sides, with Lucy in the Sky agreeing to soundproof its venue. Would Sandiaga and his friends accusing him of lying as well?
It seems like with his political access Sandiaga could have also checked into Lucy in the Sky’s licensing status without throwing around even more accusations. We’re not really sure who is telling the truth in this situation, but we’d expect a bit more due diligence from a somebody hoping to lead the capital.
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