Betawi folk await law to preserve culture

Betawi folk await law to preserve culture

Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Hopes are running high among Betawi people (native Jakartans) for
a draft bylaw that seeks to convert the Srengseng Sawah
subdistrict in South Jakarta into a Betawi cultural village.

"We hope the new measure will succeed in preserving Betawi
culture with better cooperation from the Jakarta administration
and residents there," Biem Triani Benyamin of the Betawi Culture
Institute (LKB) told The Jakarta Post over the weekend.

Biem was asked to comment on the draft bylaw now being
deliberated by the City Council, which, if endorsed, would turn
Srengseng Sawah subdistrict into the city's new Betawi culture
preservation village.

Under the draft bylaw, all buildings, including houses, shops
and offices situated in the designated area of 165 hectares must
use Betawi architecture and motifs.

It also mandates the Jakarta governor to issue ancillary
decrees on certain types of buildings that can be constructed in
the area.

Any violation of the ruling is punishable by six months jail
or a Rp 5 million fine.

Biem said that he has high hopes for the administration of
Governor Sutiyoso, who has supported renovation projects made
by owners of Betawi traditional houses in the Srengseng Sawah
subdistrict.

"I observe that the administration has made progress, for
instance, in providing free of charge fences and window frames
with Betawi motifs to owners of Betawi traditional houses there,"
said Biem, a member of the Regional Representatives Council (DPD)
representing Jakarta.

He said that the regional autonomy law has given greater
leeway for the Jakarta administration to develop "the city's
native culture."

The regional autonomy law that took effect in 2001 allows
regional administrations to design their own programs, except in
areas such as foreign policy, national defense and finance.

Noted author of various books and plays about Betawi culture,
S.M. Ardan, also welcomed the draft, but reminded people that law
enforcement would be the key to the project's success.

"We must not become complacent just because we have a good
concept or regulation. The most important thing is whether or not
it will be implemented with strong commitment," Ardan told the
Post.

He feared that the program to develop the new Betawi village
would be doomed to fail without strong commitment from the city
administration, as happened to similar Betawi cultural
preservation projects in Condet, East Jakarta and Kemayoran,
Central Jakarta.

Condet and Kemayoran were declared preservation villages for
Betawi culture by former Jakarta governor Ali Sadikin in the
1970s. Unfortunately, the projects have failed partly due to the
administration's poor control on physical development in those
areas. Many buildings using non-Betawi architecture have since
been built there.

The administration said that the new Betawi village would
become a cultural attraction for both local and foreign tourists
since the draft bylaw also opens the possibility for business
people to take part in developing the area.

Businesses that could be developed there include small
industries, agriculture, farming and tourism.

Presently, some 3,000 people reside in the area of the
proposed conservation village.