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City parking authorities and PD Pasar Jaya, which oversees traditional markets in the capital, are at loggerheads over the management of a parking lot at Blok M Square mall in South Jakarta.

Benyamin Bukit, head of the parking division of the City Transportation Agency, said that PT Sunparking Services International — which manages the parking lot on behalf of Pasar Jaya — had not secured the necessary permit from his office. Pasar Jaya, meanwhile, says it owns the mall and thus the parking space.

“[Sunparking] needs approval,” Bukit said. “It has applied for a permit, but it hasn’t been issued yet.” Management of the Blok M area is under discussion, he said.

The parking authorities will seal off the lot if Sunparking refuses to comply with its warnings, Bukit said.

But Nurhafidz, a spokesman for Pasar Jaya, said the parking area belonged to Pasar Jaya and that it was free to assign any company to manage it.

“We have regional regulations on managing parking lots inside the market,” he said, adding that Pasar Jaya was authorized to charge fees in the Blok M parking area.

The city parking authorities, he said, were only in charge of on-street parking. “We built [Blok M Square] and we manage it, so we handle parking,” Nurhafidz said. “We also pay tax on 20 percent of parking fees.”

Nurhafidz said that the city parking authorities should review parking regulations before making any further comments on the legality of the parking lot at Blok M Square.