Parks languish at priority list bottom<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): No wonder parks and fields are difficult to find
\nhere: they occupy the lowest priority level in the city's master
\nplan.<\/p>\n
Untung Widodo, the head of the Inter-Municipalities
\nOrganization (BKS-AKSI), said recently that ideally, more
\nattention should be paid to the provision of green space.<\/p>\n
\"Our most important needs were initially housing and work
\nplaces when the government began arranging the master plan 11
\nyears ago,\" he said, \"Green areas had yet to receive more
\nattention.\"<\/p>\n
Now, he urged, other needs should be curbed to make way for
\ngreen areas. Currently, it is still the other way round: data
\nfrom the city parks agency shows that 543,907 hectares of green
\nareas are being used for other purposes. Of this, 306,649
\nhectares alone are in Central Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Green space occupies a final ninth position on the 1985 - 2005
\nmaster plan's list of \"general policies\". Numbers 1 to 8 are
\nconsiderations for population growth, work space, housing,
\nindustry, transport, drinking water and water sources, floods and
\ndrainage and public facilities, including roads and commercial
\ncenters.<\/p>\n
Untung said that however important these other factors are,
\nthe provision of green space should be possible if rules on
\nchanging the master plan are followed consistently.<\/p>\n
Green space, in the form of parks and natural or man-made
\nforests, are vital in their role as the city's \"lungs\" to produce
\noxygen, besides providing shade for weary traders and
\npedestrians.<\/p>\n
The city, which sprawls across 65,000 hectares, has at least
\n19,500 hectares of parks and natural or man-made forests.<\/p>\n
Student violence has been attributed to a lack of fields to
\naccommodate sports matches. The city's One Million Tree Program
\nis also limited by a lack of space.<\/p>\n
In the master plan \"open green space\" also includes coast
\nconservation and river maintenance, including riverbanks.
\nMaintenance of existing sites and creating new ones in
\ncooperation with the private sector are also on the list.<\/p>\n
The city was last recorded to have green space amounting to
\nonly 12 percent of its total area, or 7,800 hectares, including
\n465 small and large parks with a total area of less than 350
\nhectares.<\/p>\n
Many evictions of slum residents have been announced as steps
\nto return the sites to green areas, as marked in the master plan.<\/p>\n
But residents are often skeptical, as they point to other
\nvacated areas in which billboards showing high-rise buildings
\nhave been erected.<\/p>\n
Untung said that based on a decree on the master plan, changes
\nare possible only if both the governor and city council agree.<\/p>\n
\"But control of their enforcement is in a mess,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Earlier, former director of the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute,
\nNursyahbani Katjasungkana, said that many eviction cases
\nindicated practices of changing details of the master plan, or
\nlocal spatial plans, without agreement between the governor and
\ncity council.<\/p>\n
\"Green areas can be turned into areas for housing or
\ncommercial purposes,\" she said, citing Kampung Sawah in West
\nJakarta.<\/p>\n
Suspicions aside, an important effort to increase green space
\nincludes plans for a 15-hectare urban forest and park site in
\nSrengseng, West Jakarta, to be completed next year. This will add
\nto the city's protected areas, which also include the islands and
\ncoral reefs of the Seribu Islands.<\/p>\n
Aboejoewono, who heads the city's environmental bureau, said
\nthat in the new forest, young and old will be able to enjoy bird
\nwatching and duck feeding, besides picnicking among the trees.<\/p>\n
More promises are in plans for the new town in Kemayoran,
\nCentral Jakarta, which includes a conservation site for local
\nvegetation and various birds.<\/p>\n
Also notable is the greening of cemeteries, aimed at
\ndispelling their ghostly image. The Karet cemetery in South
\nJakarta is now lined with grass and young trees to replace its
\nformer walls.<\/p>\n
Another plan is for the reclamation of the city's north coast,
\nwhich promises to not only increase residential and commercial
\nspace, but also improve maintenance of the beach and replant the
\nmangrove forest.<\/p>\n
The recent city rule justifying the reclamation was issued in
\nline with the requisite that both the governor and city council
\nagree on changes in master plan.<\/p>\n
Untung also said that utmost care is needed when sacrificing
\nvegetation area for building purposes.<\/p>\n
\"The necessary technology is expensive, and one must be
\ncareful in changing the ecology,\" Untung said. (anr\/yns))<\/p>",
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