Council wants quick relocation of warehouses
Council wants quick relocation of warehouses
JAKARTA (JP): City Council's Commission B, which oversees
financial affairs, urged the city administration yesterday to
speed up the relocation of the old warehouses in the Kota
downtown area, West Jakarta.
Deputy chairman of the commission Nitra Arsyad said that the
relocation program has already been delayed too long.
"The program, which was introduced in 1984, has not been
conducted as planned as many warehouse owners are still reluctant
to move their facilities to other areas," Nitra said yesterday
after visiting the city's first distribution center project in
Pluit, West Jakarta.
Nitra explained that the warehouse owners have complained that
the relocation sites appointed by the city administration, such
as Ciracas, Sunter and Pulogadung, are not suitable because they
are too far from the business center.
The owners also say the poor accessibility is also another
problem hampering the program.
"But with the city administration's plan to build a warehouse
complex in Pluit, which will be completed with various supporting
facilities, there is no reason for the owners not to remove their
warehouses," he said.
The Pluit distribution center project will be built by the
city administration, through the Pluit Authority and in
cooperation with the private company PT Waringin Multicipta.
The 45-hectare project will be built with a total investment
of Rp 73.5 billion (US$33.4 million). In the first stage, which
is expected to be completed next year, 447 warehouses will be
built on the complex, he said.
This project, which will also be equipped with modern road
networks, is close to the harbor's upcoming elevated toll road, a
new outer ring road and the Sedyatmo toll road, which leads to
Soekarno-Hatta airport.
Assistant of the City Secretary Prawoto Danoemihardjo recently
said that all of the remaining warehouses in downtown areas
should be moved by 1997 because the city administration plans to
revitalize the area and transform it into a tourist attraction by
modifying the old buildings.
The program to relocate the warehouses, which are mostly old
buildings, started in 1984.
However, due to various problems the city administration only
started the program two years ago. Out of 120 warehouses in the
areas, only 46 have so far been moved away.
The city administration has selected several alternative
locations for the warehouses throughout the city: Sunter Barat,
Sunter Timur, Ciracas, Pulogadung, Cipinang, Cilincing and Pluit.
Nitra said the current warehouses in Kota have caused various
problems ranging from traffic jams to water and air pollution.
"The area looks dirty and unattractive to tourists. Therefore
it is time for the city administration to make improvements," he
added. (yns)