City forest turned into sports hall

Urip Hudiono and Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The concrete jungle of Jakarta -- only about 9 percent of its 65,680 hectares consists of open and green spaces -- grew a little bigger when much of the 10-hectare city forest in Cibubur, East Jakarta, was recently cleared to make way for a sports hall.

Hundreds of trees once stood in the Pemuda City Forest, a small sanctuary for residents and wildlife alike. However, they have been replaced with the nearly completed sports hall.

The Ministry of National Education's director general of sports, Toho Kholik, who is managing the site, said all relevant regulation had been followed in implementing the project, including the city's master plan.

"We obtained all the necessary permits for the project from the related agencies last year," he said. "The project also received an environmental impact analysis."

Toho said the sports hall would be host events put on by his office as well as the Directorate for Youth Affairs.

He added that his office would provide monetary compensation for the trees that were felled, but he did not say how much money would be paid.

Toho said the sports hall was a long-term project between his office and the Korean Overseas International Cooperation Agency, which is financing the project.

"We have either planted new trees in other locations or paid compensation to the City Parks Agency," he said, adding that 20 percent of the site would also be conserved as an open and green space.

However, the outgoing head of the City Agriculture and Forestry Agency, Peni Susanti, said the Cibubur city forest was under the auspices of her agency, not the parks agency.

"Anyone who wants to construct any buildings in the forested area must consult with us first. But, in this case, we never received any proposal," she said.

Governor Sutiyoso said his administration had only given a permit for the construction of a shopping mall in an area adjacent to the city forest.

"If there is no permit for the construction of the building, I will take action. But I will check the facts first," he said.

Separately, councillor Syamsidar Siregar of the National Mandate Party (PAN) questioned whether the project was in line with the city's master plan.

"Jakarta is in dire need of water catchment areas to help reduce flooding," she said. "Thus, it is doubtful if they claim that the construction is in line with the master plan."

The City Planning Board reported in its preliminary evaluation of the city's 2000-2010 master plan that open and green spaces in the capital had decreased by 14 percent over the last 19 years.

The current master plan requires the administration to maintain the city's open and green spaces -- including parks, street greenbelts and riversides -- at 13.94 percent of the city's total area, or 9,155.8 hectares.