Govt urged to preserve old buildings<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): An official of the City Museum Agency has urged
\nthe central government to pay more attention to the preservation
\nof 206 old buildings in the capital.<\/p>\n
Dirman Surachmat, head of the agency, told reporters on
\nTuesday that a ministerial decree is badly needed for the
\npreservation of cultural heritage because a gubernatorial decree
\nalone is not enough to protect the buildings.<\/p>\n
\"By issuing a ministerial decree, it would be much easier to
\nprotect the buildings because the government will also be
\ninvolved in their preservation,\" Dirman said, adding that the
\ngovernment's involvement will include, among other things, the
\nprovision of funds for research purposes.<\/p>\n
Dirman explained that his agency badly requires a large amount
\nof funds for research on the old buildings, including to measure,
\ndraw and make blueprints of each building.<\/p>\n
Dirman said that based on research conducted in 1972, there
\nare about 700 old buildings in the city. Out of this number, 224
\nhave been classified as historical buildings and protected by a
\ngubernatorial decree.<\/p>\n
However, only 18 out of the 224 buildings were protected under
\na decree issued by the Ministry of Education and Culture. Some of
\nthe 18 buildings include Pekojan, Angke and Luar Batang mosques,
\nImmanuel and Sion churches as well as Fatahilah, Keramik
\n(Ceramics) and Bahari museums.<\/p>\n
Dirman also reiterated the importance of conducting a
\ncomprehensive research on old buildings in the city to decide
\nwhether they should be used as museums or not because, according
\nto him, old buildings do not necessarily mean they have to
\nfunction as museums.<\/p>\n
\"I don't think old buildings should be used as museums. The
\nmost important thing is to safeguard the buildings, especially
\nits architectural structure. Their use can be adjusted with
\ndemand,\" Dirman said.<\/p>\n
He pointed out a plan to turn the Candranaya building on Jl.
\nGajah Mada, West Jakarta into a shopping center. The building
\nused to be an old house of the Chinese community in the 18th
\ncentury. The developer handling the project has been ordered not
\nto change any of the building's architectural structure.<\/p>\n
Dirman explained that besides a shortage of funds, there are
\nalso many other obstacles to establishing a museum in the city.<\/p>\n
He said that to manage a museum there should be a structured
\norganization and human resources to be in charge of caring for
\nthe ornaments and other pieces of the collection.<\/p>\n
\"Talking about the collection, there should a clear concept of
\nthe kind of museums we are going to manage. We also have to
\nsearch for additional ornaments to back up the concept,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The fact that many Indonesians do not appreciate museums as
\nEuropeans do can be seen from the composition visitor to the
\nMaritime Museum. The museum is visited by about 120 people every
\nday, 60 percent of whom are foreigners.<\/p>\n
\"The rest are school children who visit the museum because
\ntheir schools require them to do so. Moreover, most of them will
\nnot remember anything about the museum after they leave the
\nbuildings,\" Dirman said.<\/p>\n
Dirman said that it is also important to preserve current
\nmuseums, which are old historical buildings, such as the maritime
\nmuseum.<\/p>\n
The museum, which used to be a spice warehouse complex owned
\nby the Dutch East-Indies Company, is currently threatened by salt
\nwater intrusion. A large amount of money is needed to restore the
\nconstruction of the building.<\/p>\n
\"Because we do not have money, all we can do is just repaint
\nthe building each year and build dikes to avoid flood,\" Dhermawan
\nIlyas, head of the museum, said. (yns)<\/p>",
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