Busway project end of line for many trees
Busway project end of line for many trees
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
As the city administration revs up the construction of busway
corridors II and III to catch up with the operational target, the
fate of over 1,500 trees along the routes seem to be a very
distant concern.
The Jakarta Post observed on Monday that trees of 100
centimeters diameter on Jl. Perintis Kemerdekaan in North Jakarta
and Jl. Let. Jend. Suprapto in Cempaka Putih, Central Jakarta had
been felled to make way for busway lanes or shelters.
The second and third busway corridors will connect Pulogadung
in East Jakarta to Harmoni in Central Jakarta (14.3 kilometers)
and Harmoni to Kalideres in West Jakarta (18.7 kilometers).
The construction of busway corridors II and III also ate into
most of the median strips, leaving only a very narrow space for
the remaining trees to grow.
Mohamad Taufiq, a resident of Harapan Mulya housing estate on
Jl. Let. Jend. Suprapto, lamented the cutting down of the trees.
"I cannot enjoy the tree shade along the street anymore. That
line of big trees had always been this street's characteristic
compared to other streets in the city," he grumbled.
"I feel very sad about the felling of those trees. Did the
administration really understand that this city is in dire need
of green spaces to neutralize air pollution?" asked Andreas
Warsana, 30, a resident of Bumi Serpong Damai housing complex in
Tangerang.
Aside from serving as the city's lungs, green spaces in the
city also function as water catchments to absorb rainwater.
"No wonder the city is getting hotter. While the replacement
of felled trees for the first busway project still remains
unclear, the administration again repeats the mistake by cutting
down many trees in the new busway project," growled Maximus
Agung, a resident of Ciputat in South Jakarta.
For the first 12.9 kilometer-busway corridor from Blok M in
South Jakarta to Kota in West Jakarta, the administration felled
many trees, but promised to replace every felled tree with 10 new
ones. There has been no report from the city administration about
the replacement trees so far.
Maximus also complained about the absence of works to widen
space for sidewalks along busway corridors.
"It is ironic that although the busway project is meant
especially to cater for the needs of public transportation, it
fails to better address the need for proper sidewalks for
pedestrians," he said.
City Parks Agency head Sarwo Handhayani could not be reached
for comment Monday.
Meanwhile, City Secretary Ritola Tasmaya admitted that the
administration "was revving up the development of the busway
corridors" in order to launch the project in December this year.
"The chassis of the compressed natural gas (CNG) fuel buses
are expected to come from South Korea within two or three weeks.
The busway operators will assemble the first 71 buses that will
be ready for operation by the end of December," Ritola said.
Trees affected by new busway project
- Jl. Perintis Kemerdekaan (from Pulogadung bus terminal to Coca
Cola intersection): 474 trees, mostly angsana, between 80
centimeters and 100 centimeters in diameter
- Jl. Let. Jend. Suprapto in Cempaka Putih, Central Jakarta: 564
trees, comprising 449 bintaro trees (Cerbera manghas l.), 215
teak, 205 mahogany and 180 angsana trees
- Jl. Daan Mogot: 600 trees, comprising 200 sengon trees
(Parserianthes falcataria), 160 mahogany and about 200 oil palms.
Source: various sources