Councilors want city parks to be rebuilt soon

JAKARTA (JP): The City Council is urging the City Park Office to speed up the implementation of programs concerning areas formerly designated for green areas but which were used for the development of gas stations and other projects instead.

The program calls for converting the areas into parks.

But the council also reminded the City Park Office of the need to cooperate with Pertamina, the state-owned oil company, in the relocation programs because the existence of gas stations is also important for the public.

Councilor Mansyur Achmad, the chairman of the City Council's Commission D on city development, told The Jakarta Post Tuesday after a hearing with the municipal parks office executives, that thus far the park office has converted 66 of the 302 former green areas back to their originally intended function.

Mansyur said that the municipal administration allocated a total of Rp 150 million (US$69,092) in the 1994/95 fiscal year to turn 14.34 hectares of former green areas back to their intended function.

Syamsir Alam, the head of the City Parks Office, said that all gas stations built on green areas should be turned back to their original function by the year 1998.

The municipal administration, Syamsir said, has given the City Park Office until the year 2005 to convert ten percent of Jakarta's 650 kilometers land areas into green belts.

"As of now, there are only 3,400 hectares of green areas in the city," he said.

In efforts to reach the target, Syamsir said that the municipal administration will not extend land use permits for gas stations whose permits have expired.

The council is also urging the owners of gas stations built on the green areas to help the municipal administration implement the relocation program by looking for other locations for their gas stations.

Proposal

In addition, Syamsir said he had also forwarded a proposal requiring developers to clearly specify to Governor Surjadi Soedirdja which part of their development site will become green areas and how large.

"The proposal is being worked by a team at the governor's office," Syamsir said.

So far, land use permits issued by the municipal administration do not stipulate requirements concerning the establishment of green areas from the overall area being developed for housing complexes.

Syamsir said that his office would also cooperate with the city's five mayoralties in order to persuade real estate developers to build social and public facilities, including green areas, in their housing compounds.

Apart from being used as gas stations, many city parks have been used to make way for the development of school buildings, subdistrict offices and police stations.

Mansyur said that the programs should also include the relocation of public buildings, including the ones owned by the city administration or police.

"It is, in fact, relatively easier to move office buildings built by government agencies than those constructed by private companies or individuals," Mansyur said. (arf)