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."