Damage to Monas regretted

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The National Monument (Monas) park was dirty and in poor shape on Monday with parts of the pavement damaged and the grass trampled after an exhibition on regional autonomy that took place on the site.

Worse still, the week-long event, which should have ended on Sunday, was still open on Monday.

Councillor Posman Siahaan of the Justice and Unity Party regretted the damage. He said that the city administration would have to spend a huge sum of money from the city budget to repair it.

Posman, who is also a member of the City Council's Commission A for administrative affairs, urged the revocation of Gubernatorial Decree No. 158/2000 on management of Monas park, which allows exhibitions to be held in the park.

The regulation appears to contradict the government's efforts to make Monas park part of the city's green areas.

Despite the objection of the City Council, Governor Sutiyoso allowed PT Samudera Nira Peraga to hold the regional autonomy expo on the condition that it was only "temporary".

Separately, the Central Jakarta Mayor Hosea Petra Lumbun said the administration would not allow other exhibitions in the park after the autonomy exhibition was over.

But he refused to comment on the fact that the exhibition, which should have ended on Sunday, still continued on Monday.

"I will check that. But there will definitely be no more exhibitions after this one," he said.

He also said that the organizer had deposited Rp 100 million (US$10,000) to cover damages to the park due to the exhibition.

"We will ask for more money if the repairs to the park cost more than Rp 100 million," he said.