Chaotic Senen area to get makeover in December
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
As part of efforts to organize the chaotic and overcrowded Senen traditional market in Central Jakarta, the Jakarta administration plans to start renovating the market in December.
"If we manage to complete all the required permits for the development of the market, we could start renovating it by the end of this year," city market operator PD Pasar Jaya director Prabowo Soenirman told a hearing on Wednesday with City Council Commission D, which oversees development affairs.
Pasar Jaya, which controls 151 traditional markets across the capital, owns two blocks out of a total of six blocks in the market. The other four blocks belong to city-owned developers PT Pembangunan Jaya and PT Jaya Property.
Prabowo said that the Senen City Project would be finished in two years.
"The objective of the renovation work is to revitalize the market that was very popular in the past as a center of trade in the capital," he asserted.
According to him, the Senen City Project would be integrated with the Senen bus terminal and railway station.
"We will cooperate with state railway company PT KAI and the Jakarta Transportation Agency to discuss the integration between the shopping center and the existing bus terminal and railway station there," he added.
The administration, however, has not estimated the cost of the project.
However, the three city companies signed a Memorandum of Understanding on March 16 for the project.
The Central Jakarta municipality has prioritized the renovation of Senen market and Tanah Abang market as its development projects this year.
Senen is one of the oldest traditional markets in the city. The country's founding president Sukarno ordered the renovation of the market in 1961.
The market, however, is now more known for its overcrowded bus terminal and street vendors who occupy most of the sidewalks and sides of the road in the area.
PD Pasar Jaya also plans to start the renovation of the Tanah Abang textile market after Idul Fitri early in November following a prolonged dispute with traders.