City to provide seven more community parks
City to provide seven more community parks
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
What kind of community parks do people want?
Do they want a playground, a sports field, or both, with
facilities where people can relax and enjoy an afternoon?
The City Parks Agency announced on Tuesday that it was
planning to develop seven new community parks across the capital,
bringing the number of community parks to 80 by the end of the
year.
"Five of them are still under negotiation for the acquisition
of the land, while two others, in North Jakarta and West Jakarta,
are ready to be converted into parks," the agency head Sarwo
Handhayani told The Jakarta Post at City Hall.
Handhayani said that the five locations still in need of land
acquisition were in Cakung and Pulogadung in East Jakarta,
Pancoran in South Jakarta, Cengkareng in West Jakarta and
Cilincing in North Jakarta.
The development of the parks -- which measure between 200
square meters and 1,000 square meters -- would cost up to Rp 1
billion (US$103,092).
"Ideally, every subdistrict should have at least two community
parks. But, we can only afford seven parks this year amid limited
budget allocations for park development," she said, without
sharing the exact details of the budget allocation.
Jakarta has a total of 267 subdistricts.
The agency has been establishing community parks, mostly in
slum areas, since 2001 in a bid to increase the number of green
spaces in densely populated areas.
Residents would be able to determine the function of the park
in their areas, she added.
"They can use the park as a place to hang out or exercise or
as a playground for children. The facilities provided will be
relevant to the needs of the community."
The city administration is aiming for a total of 9,156
hectares, or 13.94 percent of Jakarta's area, for open and green
spaces by 2010 in its 2000-2010 Master Plan.
Currently, there are 5,911 hectares of green areas, or 9
percent of the capital's land area.
Environmentalists have repeatedly said that, ideally, green
areas should comprise around 30 percent of the city's total area,
to help ease flooding and reduce air pollution.
On Tuesday, the Jakarta administration also received 1,000
trees from automaker Honda Prospect Motor. Those trees will be
planted along the banks of the Banglio River in Cilincing, North
Jakarta.
Also present at the handover ceremony were Governor Sutiyoso
and Honda president director Kenji Otaka.
"I hope other big companies, especially those in the
automotive industry, which are responsible for worsening air
quality here with their vehicular emissions, will also take part
in the replanting of the city to reduce air pollution here,"
Sutiyoso said.
Honda general manager of sales and marketing Jonfis Fandy
revealed that the company would also give the same number of
trees to the administration as vehicles they sell in the upcoming
Gaikindo Auto Expo 2005 from July 8 to July 17.