'No permit, no tunnel!' says Bang Yos<\/p>\n
Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
\"No permit, no tunnel,\" said Governor Sutiyoso on Tuesday,
\nthereby terminating the construction of a new, additional
\nunderground corridor that would have connected the Jakarta Hilton
\nInternational Hotel and the near-by Jakarta Convention Center.<\/p>\n
City Building Supervision Agency head Djumhana explained that
\nhis office had already rejected the proposal submitted by
\ndeveloper PT Indobuilco on Dec. 10 to construct a 210-meter long,
\neight-meter wide tunnel.<\/p>\n
The planned tunnel would have run parallel with an existing
\none that was constructed to facilitate movement of participants
\nin a Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit held in the early 1990s.<\/p>\n
\"We only allowed the developer to renovate the existing
\ntunnel ... but they had already begun construction work without a
\npermit. We stopped the project today,\" Djumhana told assembled
\nmedia after meeting with the Governor.<\/p>\n
The State Secretary, Yusril Ihza Mahendra, wrote to Sutiyoso
\non Nov. 29 requesting a permit to renovate the existing tunnel as
\npart of preparations for the Asia-Africa Conference in April. The
\nevent will be held in the convention center, while the
\nparticipants will be staying at the hotel.<\/p>\n
The existing tunnel, also measuring 210-meters long and eight-
\nmeters wide, is located under the parking lot in the eastern part
\nof the Bung Karno Sport Complex.<\/p>\n
It was used to transport participants at the previous NAM
\nsummit, mostly state leaders, from the Hilton Hotel to the
\nconvention center.<\/p>\n
According to Djumhana, the governor did not permit the
\nconstruction of the new tunnel because the developer did not
\nprovide a detailed plan of the project, or an environmental
\nassessment.<\/p>\n
\"The Governor does not see the urgency of constructing a new
\ntunnel. The existing one is adequate to accommodate the
\nparticipants of the Asia-Africa Conference,\" he added.<\/p>\n
Indonesia hosted the first Asia-Africa Conference in Bandung,
\nWest Java, in 1955. The meeting was attended by leaders from
\nAsian and African countries and is generally believed to have
\nmotivated many nations to break free from colonialism.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/no-permit-no-tunnel-says-bang-yos-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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