City to have Las Vegas-style fountains
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
After the laser lighting on the National Monument (Monas) and the deer zone in its park, a new attraction emulating the Las Vegas Bellagio dancing fountains is set to become another city icon next month.
With music and choreographed laser beams, the Rp 26 billion (US$2.7 million) project is simply an embarrassment amid recent reports that at least 8,455 toddlers in the city are suffering from chronic undernourishment.
"The construction is 80 percent complete. Hopefully, we can start operating the 'dancing and chanting fountain' on July 18," said Nyomananda, president director of PT Media Indra Buana (MIB), which is developing the fountain, during a hearing with City Council Commission D overseeing development affairs.
The launch of the fountain is overdue since it was slated for June 22, to highlight the celebrations of the city's 478th anniversary.
The fountain, which is in the west part of the park, will measure 45 meters in width and 80 meters in length.
Like the $52 million Bellagio fountains, the water of which performs to songs by great singers such as Luciano Pavarotti and Frank Sinatra, the Monas fountain will also feature 10 different choreographed dances performed by jets of water alongside 14 song titles.
Instead of Pavarotti or Sinatra, Governor Sutiyoso himself has hand-picked the titles, including a Betawi (native Jakarta) song Jali Jali, pop song Serasa (Feels like) by singer Chrisye and a piece from the opera Carmen: Le Toreadors composed by Bizet.
Ira Octavira, a director of MIB, said that the fountain built using German technology would be able to shoot water up to 30 meters into the air, with moving waves of water up to 10 meters high traveling around the circumference of the fountain.
The fountain will also use laser lights flashing unto the water screen to create various visual effects.
The fountain will need a total power of 1,660 kilo volt ampere (KVA).
"The fountain is designed to accommodate modifications, including putting a giant stage over the fountain," Ira said, adding that with good maintenance it could operate properly for about 10 years.
The fountain is being renovated since the old fountain that stopped working early in the 1980s has become a bathing pool for street people.
Sutiyoso has argued that the development of the fountain would not cost taxpayers any money since it would be financed by MIB through a barter scheme in exchange for 28 locations for outdoor advertisements across the capital.