Indonesia’s Home Affairs Minister praised the successful coordination between local authorities and religious figures to complete a Presbyterian church in Bogor, ending a 16-year dispute.

The completion of a Presbyterian church in Bogor, West Java, has been praised by Home Affairs Minister Tito Karnavian as the result of continuous coordination between the authorities and local religious figures to uphold residents’ rights of worship. The church, named GKI Pengadilan, was earlier known as GKI Yasmin, and its planned construction was central in a years-long dispute between the church and locals who opposed it. The dispute became a national and international spotlight and prompted the central government to act to resolve the dispute. The Christian group began building a church on Jalan Abdullah bin Nuh in the West Java town in 2006 but met opposition from local residents who accused the group of collecting fake signatures of residents to approve the construction. The government later revoked the permit to build the church to avoid conflict. In 2012 the city government offered a relocation plan for the church construction. In June 2021, Bogor Mayor Bima Arya granted land to build the church after members of the group agreed with the relocation plan. Karnavian noted that the regional authority’s tireless work to communicate with the central government and the people, as well as its keenness to observe the actual condition in resolving the dispute, must be emulated by others.