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)