Gas station owners not informed of relocation plan<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): An executive of the gas station owners'
\nassociation said that the union has not received official notice
\nfrom the city administration about the planned relocation of gas
\nstations which occupy areas formerly designated for use as parks.<\/p>\n
A.S. Siregar, the chairman of the Jakarta chapter of the
\nNational Association of Private Oil Companies (Hiswana Migas),
\ntold The Jakarta Post yesterday that he only became aware of the
\nmunicipal administration's plan from newspapers.<\/p>\n
"We have not yet received a definite schedule of the
\nrelocation programs," said Siregar, suggesting that the city
\nadministration discuss the issue first with the state-owned oil
\ncompany, Pertamina.<\/p>\n
But Siregar said that the association would support any policy
\nadopted by the city administration about the relocation programs.<\/p>\n
The issue of relocating public buildings from city parks,
\nincluding gas stations, resurfaced recently after city officials
\nand councilors underlined the necessity for an urgent solution to
\nJakarta's notorious air pollution problem.<\/p>\n
Syamsir Alam, the head of the City Park Office, said earlier
\nthis week in a hearing with the City Council that all gas
\nstations built on parks should be returned to their original
\nfunction by 1998.<\/p>\n
The relocation program, Syamsir said, is in line with the city
\nadministration's plan to convert some 6,500 hectares or 10
\npercent of Jakarta's total area into green zones by 2005.<\/p>\n
At present 3,400 hectares of city land are classified as green
\nareas.<\/p>\n
In order to reach the target, Syamsir said that the municipal
\nadministration will not extend land use permits for gas stations
\nwhose permits have expired.<\/p>\n
Siregar said that most gas stations built on green areas in
\nthe city belong to Pertamina.<\/p>\n
"They have not been privatized yet," he added.<\/p>\n
According to Siregar some city parks were converted to gas
\nstations in the 1970s to meet the escalating demand for petrol
\ncaused by the rapid increase in private cars which followed the
\noil boom.<\/p>\n
Pertamina was not available for comment.<\/p>\n
The Ministry of Transportation reported last year that vehicle
\nownership in Jakarta, home to some 1.3 million private cars and
\n170,000 public vehicles, is growing at 5.1 percent annually.<\/p>\n
Central Jakarta<\/p>\n
In a related development, the Central Jakarta mayoralty
\nadministration announced this week that four gas stations,
\nincluding two on Jl. Sumur Batu, one on Jl. Kwitang and another
\non Jl. Tanah Abang Timur, would be relocated to other parts of
\nthe city.<\/p>\n
In a bid to smoothen the implementation of the relocation
\nprograms, the City Council has called on the city administration
\nto cooperate with Pertamina.<\/p>\n
Mansyur Achmad, the chairman of the City Council's commission
\nD on development, said that the city has already converted 66 of
\n302 former green areas to their original functions.<\/p>\n
The municipal administration has allocated Rp 150 million
\n(US$69,100) in the current 1994\/1995 fiscal year to return 14.34
\nhectares of former green areas to their intended functions. (09)<\/p>",
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