Building owners OK wider sidewalk

Building owners OK wider sidewalk

Leony Aurora, Jakarta

In order to make way for wider pedestrian sidewalks, the owners
of 22 buildings along Jl. Thamrin, Central Jakarta, have agreed
to take their fences back a notch.

The additional width provided by the buildings varied from 0.6
meter to 3.5 meters, said head of the City Parks Agency open
spaces division Mochamad Setyadi, on Monday.

"Not all sidewalks will be six meters wide as initially
planned," he said.

Owners of the other 10 plots of land along the thoroughfare
were still in discussion with the agency, added Setyadi. The
French, German and UK embassies, as well as the UN office, have
objected to the plan for security reasons.

"We are not compelling anybody but simply making a request,"
he said.

The agency, in accordance with Gubernatorial Degree No.
72/2003 on the rejuvenation of Jl. Thamrin, has been widening and
replacing old sidewalks with new ones since May.

In future, walkways will be surfaced in brick-red concrete
slabs bordered by basalt stonework, and dotted with trees. The Rp
10 billion (US$1.09 million) project is scheduled for completion
by the end of the year.

The revamping of sidewalks is not new to the capital, as Jl.
Kebon Sirih and Jl. Wahid Hasyim, which both cross Jl. Thamrin,
have been locations for similar projects in recent years.

"They (the sidewalks) are overcrowded with vendors," said
Coordinator of the Communications Forum of Thamrin Building
Owners and Managements Suryo A. Prasetyo.

Apart from vendors, ojek (motorcycle taxi) drivers also use
sidewalks as parking lots or as a highway to avoid traffic jams,
thereby exposing pedestrians to danger.

"Where's the administration's commitment to security and to
ensuring that such misuse does not recur?" Suryo asked.

He elaborated that the administration had promised that city
public order officers and police would be ready to tackle the
problem. "We hope that they will patrol regularly."

Setyadi said his agency would also deploy uniformed officers
to patrol the area 24 hours a day. "The intensity will depend on
the increase in passersby," he added.

Parks agency officers would not be empowered to arrest
violators but would coordinate with police and public order
officers.

Private building owners and managements have not been asked
only to make sacrifices: They also stand to benefit financially.
"Areas incorporated in the sidewalk-widening project will be
exempted from land and building tax, because they are being used
for the benefit of the public," said Setyadi.

All construction costs incurred in accordance with the
agency's approved design would be covered by the agency, he said.
If a building owner or management offered an alternative, it
would have to cover the difference in cost.

The next phase of this project will be the rejuvenation of
pedestrian ways on Jl. Sudirman, starting in 2005. The agency
aims to construct an eight-meter-wide sidewalk there, as the land
plots are more generous.

"Jl. Thamrin and Jl. Sudirman function as Jakarta's window
display," said Setyadi. "That's why we've prioritized them."