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