Authorities dream of port's old glory

Authorities dream of port's old glory

By Yoko N. Sari

JAKARTA (JP): The dirty and smelly Ciliwung river in Sunda
Kalapa, North Jakarta will be blue and beautiful. The slum-like
fish market, Pasar Ikan, will turn into a clean and friendly
market.

By the brink of the 21st century, historical and modern high-
rise buildings will dominate the view in Sunda Kalapa.

In the future, people will be able to walk along the coast
enjoying their holiday, or just enjoy a sunny afternoon without
having to smell anything nasty.

All these scenes are part of the municipality's dream to
revitalize the north coast: to revive the glory of the Sunda
Kalapa port 469 years after a commander captured the site from
the Portuguese on June 22, 1527.

According to the ambitious plan, a monument to commemorate the
commander -- Fatahillah of the Demak kingdom --
will be erected on the 8.9-hectare site, facing the sea.

A town with traditional features will serve as a public
center, while another monument will commemorate Sultan Agung of
the Mataram (Yogyakarta) kingdom. Sultan Agung, the greatest king
in the Mataram era, was considered meritorious for his heroism in
raiding the Batavia fortress in 1629.

A cultural center will be located in the port area. Nearby,
visitors will be able to inspect the renovated centuries-old
mosque in Kampung Luar Batang and traditional ships in the port.

A yacht terminal will also be built.

The fish market will be improved as a center of traditional
merchandise. The Kali Besar area will also be revived, along with
the development of business centers.

The plans' first phase aims to return the sidewalks of the
300-meter Jl. Kali Besar road to their original function as
pedestrian pathways, as they are presently blocked by traders and
vendors.

The architecture of buildings in the area will be restored.

Palms, bougainvillea and other plants will also line the dusty
area. Street lamps will hopefully add a sense of security to the
place.

There are already some new buildings in Kali Besar, such as
the Omni Batavia hotel.

The North Jakarta mayoralty is also beginning to develop sites
along the Opak river into a shopping center and office buildings
this month.

The Opak river stretches from the dense Malaka to Penjaringan
subdistricts. However, only 500 meters of the river are to be
included in the 8.9 hectare development area.

The project includes the renovation of the old fish auction
center and the leaning tower in the fish port.

The city administration has been taking steps to implement the
plan, such as relocating warehouses from the old buildings
currently being used in North and West Jakarta.

"The administration expects the owners to relocate their
warehouses by 1997. There are still 40 warehouses in the Jakarta
urban heritage corridor located in West and North Jakarta,"
Prawoto, an assistant to the city secretary, said.

Previously, there was a combined total of 124 warehouses in
both mayoralties.

Prawoto said that the ex-warehouses will be used for various
tourists sites, such as restaurants and hotels.

History

Once the project is completed, Jakartans will hopefully find
it easy to trace the history of their city through the renovated
port area.

Jakarta began hundreds of years ago when many local kingdoms
and Europeans fought to control Sunda Kalapa, one of the most
strategic ports on the north coast of Java.

The Demak Kingdom took over the port from the Padjajaran
kingdom after it defeated the Portuguese navy on June 22, 1527.
Fatahillah, the commander of the Demak armed forces, changed the
name of the port to Jayakarta: "a perfect victory".

However, the Dutch took over the port after defeating Demak in
1619. It was during the Dutch era that the city's development
began.

A Dutch-style city port was set up named Batavia, a city
inside a fortress with typical European buildings.

The modest Jakarta bay was transformed into a port city
similar to Amsterdam in the Netherlands.

The city was used by the Dutch trade company, VOC, as a center
of its activities as well as business. The Dutch colonial
government ruled the city from a building known as Stadhuis,
which is now the Jakarta Historical Museum.

The fortress and the surrounding areas were the origins of the
city now known as Jakarta.

The area spreads from Sunda Kalapa Port to Glodok.

The function of the Sunda Kalapa area changed when the Dutch
government, in 1807, took over VOC's activities and moved
government activities to Weltevreden, located in the National
Monument Square.

Along with this change, people began to leave Sunda Kalapa.

At present, although part of this area is still used as a
business and shopping center such as in Glodok, where you can buy
relatively cheap electronic goods and household appliances, the
areas are still relatively deserted.

The river, as well as the buildings -- built in the 17th
century -- are dirty. Some of the buildings are being used as
warehouses, while others consist of those that squatters have
built along the Ciliwung river and its tributaries.

The condition is worsened by chaotic traffic.

The only things left to remind local or foreign visitors of
the Dutch colonial days are the European-style dirty buildings.
And centuries later, people have begun to realize the historical
importance of this area.

The revival of the city's northern area particularly focuses
on the Jakarta urban heritage corridor.

Potential

With several historical sites, the area has the potential to
be one of the city's main attractions. Last year, 45,000 foreign
tourists visited the port.

"I believe there will be more tourists visiting the port and
other historical places such as Bahari museum if its condition is
improved," Suprawito said.

The plan also supports the land reclamation project on the
north coast, which intends to create a new 2,700-hectare
waterfront city.

The mayoralty estimates project costs at Rp 8 billion (US$6.08
million), excluding the construction of the 10-story shopping
center and the new office buildings, which will be offered to
private investors. Total costs may reach Rp 14 billion.

Several problems to be addressed include resettling squatters
and preserving the architecture of historical buildings.

In dealing with squatters, the administration has not
hesitated in the past to evict them from illegal places such as
river banks. An example was the eviction of more than 170
families on the Opak riverbank in February.

"The squatters were evicted because they had no right to live
on the river bank, and the mayoralty intends to start the project
as soon as possible to prevent them from returning," Suprawito
said.

Recently, Budi Lim, an architect from the Jakarta Professional
Group, warned the municipality to be careful in implementing the
program, as investors tend to change the architecture of
historical buildings for business-related interests.

He said the administration must be firm in enforcing
regulations to avoid such practices, which will only ruin the
city's history.