City ignores conservation of old buildings
Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta
An observer of old buildings, Grace Pamungkas, criticized the city administration on Friday for not making a sufficient effort to preserving the dozens of old buildings that stand in the capital.
Speaking at a seminar titled "Jakarta: the Past, the Present and the Future", she pointed to the lack of policy that could encourage the owners of old buildings to help maintain their property in good condition.
She said many old buildings were in poor condition as their owners ignored their maintenance, arguing the buildings did not have an economic value.
An architect herself, Grace pointed to the poor state of old buildings located in the Kali Besar area, West Jakarta. The area -- which served as an area to load and unload supplies and merchandise from ships -- is home to widespread criminal activities due to the presence of prostitution and gambling operations in the surroundings.
"It is obvious that the quality of buildings in the conservation zone of the Old City has degraded because the surroundings have not been improved, either, by the administration," she said, citing Glodok and Kota railway station as further examples.
Noted historian Adolf Heuken pointed to the reconstruction of the Luar Batang Mosque in North Jakarta by the Jakarta Culture and Museum Agency as additional proof that the administration was not serious in preserving old buildings.
"It is regrettable that a historical mosque like that was demolished and replaced by a completely new building," he told The Jakarta Post.
Jakarta Spatial Planning Agency head Nurfakih Wirawan said that the city could rely on many legal instruments to protect old buildings.
He admitted, however, that there were always problems during the renovation work, which resulted in a compromise having to be reached between preservation and business interests.
Grace also criticized universities in the city, which do not pay serious attention to conservation efforts. She said so far only Tarumanegara and Pelita Harapan universities had a conservation department within their schools of architecture.
"This means there are very few architects who have expertise in the conservation of old buildings. On the contrary, the demand (for such expertise) is increasing," she said.
Grace categorized around 500 old buildings and heritage sites in the city into four periods, based on the year in which they were built.
The first is the VOC era from 1619 to 1799, the second the transitional era from 1800 to 1816, the third the Dutch colonial era from 1816 to 1942 and the last the independence era from 1945 to the 1950s.
Grace called on universities nationwide to devote serious attention to opening a conservation department within their architecture schools to address the growing demand to preserve old buildings in the capital.