Beautifying Monas park

Two years ago, Governor Sutiyoso came under fire for his determination to give the National Monument (Monas) park a makeover by erecting a four-kilometer steel fence around the park to keep the hawkers out.

He continued to press ahead with his drive to make the park cleaner and more orderly by prohibiting littering. Then he released a number of deer in his efforts to make the park even more attractive.

Today, the park is better illuminated at night, and the street walkers, who used to be such a distinctive feature of the park, have disappeared. In short, the capital's only park worthy of the name is now cleaner and more attractive, although most people hope that the fence will be removed someday soon to show that the park is really a place meant for the public.

Without any fanfare, the city administration is currently developing another attraction in Monas park -- a synchronized "dancing" fountain.

The US$2.7 million fountain, which it is said will be similar to the Las Vegas Bellagio fountain, was supposed to have been completed and inaugurated on June 22 to coincide with the celebrations marking Jakarta's 478th anniversary. Due to various problems, the fountain will now be inaugurated on July 28.

The sprucing up of Monas park has been a notable advance in the effort to provide people with at least some quality green space, given that the overall area of green spaces in the capital continues to shrink. The administration says it has made many efforts to preserve green and open spaces. Unfortunately, the proliferation of malls and hypermarkets around the city belie the administration's statements in this regard.

Based on the city's 2000-2010 master plan, the administration says it wants to set aside a total of around 9,155 hectares, or almost 14 percent of the capital's area of 65,680 hectares, as open and green spaces by 2010. However, so far it has only managed to set aside less then 6,000 hectares, or only some 9 percent of the capital city's land area.

Meanwhile, an official regreening campaign -- launched last year -- as part of which people are urged to plant fruit trees on vacant land has yet to show much success.

Criticism of the city administration's commitment toward improving the green-space-to-total-area ratio in Jakarta has been widespread. Environmentalists have expressed deep concern about the way in which the city is being stripped of vegetation, which had resulted in the degradation of air and groundwater quality.

Many see the administration as being obsessed with shopping malls. With per capita income in Jakarta standing at approximately Rp 30 million (around US$3,500) per annum, the administration apparently believes that Jakartans' relatively high purchasing power needs to be milked to the maximum. This is one of the main reasons why more malls and hypermarkets are being constructed.

Figures from last year show that the city has at least 150 traditional or wet markets (managed by the Jakarta administration-owned PD Pasar Jaya), 73 shopping malls, six wholesale stores, 116 department stores and 125 supermarkets. Nevertheless, these are considered inadequate to satisfactorily relieve well-heeled Jakartans of their cash.

A respected international consultant forecast in 2002 that at least 800,000 square meters of new shopping centers would be constructed in Greater Jakarta between late 2002 and 2005.

Against a backdrop of an increasingly difficult city to live in, Jakarta people are in dire of more green and open spaces so that they can escape, albeit temporarily, from the urban jungle that Jakarta has become. Our children, who have long been using malls and shopping centers for recreation, need to be provided with places where they can relax in the shade of trees, play games on the grass, and enjoy the scents and smells that only nature can provide.

People need more open, green spaces as recreational spots for families. They can also interact with other people in the park at the same time. In addition, parks do not function only as recreation spots, but also serve as the "lungs" of the capital city.

Therefore, making Monas park more beautiful, more secure and more orderly so that families can enjoy their leisure time there deserves support. However, beautifying Monas park is only one of the many tasks that the administration must tackle in order to provide residents with an adequate number of green spaces.

Many may say that it is far too late to remedy the current woeful situation, but doing something useful is much better than doing nothing at all. It's now or never. Jakarta people want to see the administration keep its word and provide more green spaces as promised. Otherwise, living in Jakarta will only become even more intolerable.