Architect Ratna Djumiati treading new ground
BANDUNG (JP): The construction project of the immense statue of Kristus Raja (Christ the King ) could not run smoothly without this woman.
Architect Ratna Djumiati, 46, successfully mapped out the plan to erect the huge statue of Christ outside of Dili, East Timor.
As project manager Ratna broke everything down into the smallest units, made sure that the cash flow was uninterrupted and the scheduled was followed.
It was something she learned when she started her first business with her husband Erwin Wazar, making plates from wood and fiberglass.
"We sold them at Rp 17,000 per set, and they were selling like popcorn. The problem is, we were losing money instead of making it and I asked my husband to do some arithmetic," said Ratna, who graduated from the Bandung Institute of Technology in 1980.
Only then did they discover that each set cost Rp 18,500 to produce.
"Since then, I keep in mind that even the smallest thing such as a plastic wrapper involves a process that requires work and money," Ratna, who still finds time to teach at her Alma Mater, said.
The Garda team chose one network of the three alternatives Ratna proposed. Throughout the project, the team followed the very basic principle that a loss of a day's work meant a financial loss. This was especially important since the project wasn't exactly financially lucrative.
Attitude
Ratna, the mother of two grown children, began working even before project head Bholil received the final confirmation that his studio would get the assignment.
"We had to have a positive attitude. There was nothing to lose if we didn't get it, but if we did, we were prepared," she explained.
Ratna's work plan enabled the team to evaluate their work, to see when they had to speed up and when they could slow down.
"What she did was far more detailed than my plan, and without following her work map, we would not have been able to complete the project as scheduled," said Bholil.
Ratna's has a love for management and exploring new fields to test her capability. She was the job captain for the Armed Forces headquarters project in Cilangkap, East Jakarta (1973-1974), which was carried out in cooperation with ITB; co-architect of the Geothermal Energy New Zealand Limited for the Darajat Geothermal Power Plant project in Darajat, Garut, West Java (1991-1992); and planned the management system at PT Balance for the layout of a public area of the Arthaloka Hotel under the Arthaloka expansion project in Jakarta (1992-1993).
To her, the statue project was very enlightening because ideas came from new places.
"Interestingly, they came from the workers, who were only graduates of technical high schools and whose experience was on technical works."
To make the rings for the statue, for example, the team had designed Rp 6 million worth of equipment to serve as a pad where the rings would be made. The set included a steel frame.
"But the workers came up with a simple solution. All they needed was a piece of cardboard, a small piece of corrugated iron sheeting and a map cloth," she said.
Her latest pride is being a co-team leader of the ongoing ITB development project which includes a number of technology labs and what is planned as the most sophisticated science, technology and art center in Indonesia. (lem)