Governor asks for help to green the city<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Governor Sutiyoso has urged public and private
\nparties in the capital to help the administration maintain the
\ncity's forests and, if necessary, plant more trees to spruce up
\nthe capital.<\/p>\n
Speaking to the media on Wednesday, the governor said his
\nadministration could "do nothing" to preserve existing trees due
\nto cuts in the city budget for this year.<\/p>\n
He said the authorities had no choice but to rely on help from
\nthe public and the business community in particular to make the
\ncampaign to green the city a success.<\/p>\n
"People should be aware that we all badly need adequate space
\nfor city forests which would provide habitat for wildlife and act
\nas the city's lungs by helping to clean the air," Sutiyoso said
\nafter inaugurating the 10-hectare Wales Barat city forest at the
\nUniversity of Indonesia's Depok campus to the south of here.<\/p>\n
He admitted that the space available for city forests in the
\ncapital was now very limited and expressed his disapproval of
\nbuilding owners who displayed a reluctance to plant trees in the
\ngrounds of their properties.<\/p>\n
He promised to send them letters urging them to plant more
\ntrees.<\/p>\n
The governor, who is also an active three-star general in the
\nmilitary, refused to disclose what punishment he had in store for
\nproperty owners who continued to ignore his pleas, saying only:
\n"They should be ashamed if they have to be summoned by the
\ngovernor only to talk about planting trees."<\/p>\n
The greening program, he said, "is in the interests of the
\nnext generation".<\/p>\n
He also questioned why many developers were reluctant to
\nreplant trees once construction projects have been completed.<\/p>\n
"It's not surprising why many parts of Jakarta are often
\ninundated with floods every rainy season because we have fewer
\nand fewer water catchment areas," he said.<\/p>\n
During the ceremony in Depok, Sutiyoso ceremonially planted
\none of the 6,500 trees from 100 species which will be grown on
\nthe site.<\/p>\n
The Rp 1.3 billion project is being financed by Mobil Oil
\nIndonesia to mark its 100th anniversary, which falls this year.<\/p>\n
The acting head of the forestry ministry's city office, Ade
\nDjuhariah Saal, said Jakarta, which covers an area of 655 square
\nkilometers, currently has only 300 hectares of forest spread over
\n15 locations. Some of the forested areas can be found at
\nSrengseng in South Jakarta, and at Cilangkap and Cijantung in
\nEast Jakarta.<\/p>\n
The ideal area for a city the size of Jakarta would be about
\n720 hectares, she said.<\/p>\n
"Some of the forests have been turned into housing complexes
\nand golf courses or put to other uses," Ade said, citing forests
\nin Kemayoran, Central Jakarta, and Pluit, North Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Ade claimed a plot of at least 250 square meters in size with
\ntrees planted on it could be classed as a city forest. (ind\/bsr)<\/p>",
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