City to rebuild Tjitjih playhouse

JAKARTA (JP): Governor Surjadi Soedirdja said the city would rebuild the Miss Tjitjih playhouse that was gutted in a fire Saturday in Cempaka Baru, Central Jakarta.

"It's no problem. The city will rebuild the playhouse because it is important to preserve local culture," Surjadi said Tuesday.

The playhouse opened in 1930 and is one of the few that specializes in Sundanese drama. It has moved several times. The last time was in 1987, from an old building in Angke, West Jakarta.

Surjadi said the city would decide where to build the new playhouse after discussions with related offices and the arts circle here.

"We won't build it without considering improvements to its productions and artists' conditions," Surjadi said.

He said the city was likely to finance the construction alone; "Private investors wouldn't be interested."

The playhouse was burnt down along with 350 houses.

Losses to the playhouse are estimated at Rp 700 million (US$288,659). This includes the replacement cost of the building, furniture, actors' clothes and screens.

The roof and the interior were completely destroyed.

Councilor Amarullah Asbah, who is also secretary of the city's consultative body in charge of local Betawi culture, had urged the city to rebuild the playhouse.

Central Jakarta Mayor Abdul Kahfi said the owners of homes destroyed in the fire would not be allowed to rebuild because the area was not a residential zone.

The cause of the fire that left more than 800 people homeless, is still unknown.

The head of the City's Directorate of Social and Political Affairs, Bagus Suharyono, said his office would issue new voting cards to the fire victims.

"The fire victims will not lost their voting rights," Bagus said.

"There's still plenty of time to prepare new voting cards for them. The subdistrict office should still have their registration files," he said. (ste)