Don's exploit names of national heroes: Official

Don's exploit names of national heroes: Official

JAKARTA (JP): An official of the city administration warned
businessmen on Wednesday not to use names of national heroes for
commercial purposes, including in companies' names.

Priyono, head of the City Security and Order Office, said that
the city administration will soon launch an operation to clear up
company plaques and billboards throughout the city bearing names
of national heroes.

Priyono told reporters that the office is currently collecting
data on companies using the names of national heroes, including
Gajah Mada Motor, Bakmi Gajah Mada and Pusat Perbelanjaan
Jayakarta.

The data collection is being conducted jointly with officers
of the City Tourism Office and the City Revenues Office, he said.

Priyono said that this operation is aimed mainly at preventing
further misuse of such names. "It is not impossible that someday
there will be 'Hayam Wuruk Massage Parlor' if no action is taken
today," he said.

He said that the operation is part of the national discipline
drive and is based on the Instruction of Minister of Home Affairs
No. 433/1840/SJ, dated May 30, 1995.

He said that the operation will be conducted in stages and
will include informing the public about the program, asking the
owners of companies using names of heroes to change their company
names and forcefully dismantling company plagues if they fail to
change their names and remove the plaques.

In a related development, chairman of the City Council's
Commission A in charge of administration, security and public
order, Mohammad Aman, reiterated that the national heroes' names
must not be used recklessly for commercial purposes.

"If the names are used to indicate the names of roads, they
must be stated clearly," Aman, who was accompanied by the
commission's secretary Abdoelhamid Notowidagdo, said.

He said that a clear notice like "Jl. Hayam Wuruk", for
example, will prevent misuse of the names.

In response to questions raised by reporters on the ongoing
operation to fight against foreign languages used in billboards
and company titles in the city, Priyono said that his officers
had covered 909 foreign-language billboards, company plaques and
other displays with white cloth in the period between Aug. 1 and
Aug. 10.

The city administration has set Aug. 16 as the deadline for
the use of the Indonesian language in all public notices and
company plagues. After the deadline all billboards and
plagues with foreign words in them will be dismantled.

He said that the 909 billboards and plagues were found in
areas ranging from Blok M in South Jakarta to Pasar Ikan in West
Jakarta, at Jl. Matraman Raya, Jl. Pramuka and Jl. Pemuda in East
Jakarta as well as at Jl. Boulevard Kelapa Gading in North
Jakarta.

Priyono disclosed that the operation to wipe out foreign names
was conducted jointly with private firm PT Bina Cipta Sarana
Makmur.

In response to the aggressive campaign to use Indonesian names
properly, 150 real estate developers grouped in the Association
of Indonesian Real Estate Developers simultaneously changed the
names of their real estate projects which were in foreign
languages, into Indonesian names on Aug. 10, in a ceremony
attended by Minister of Public Housing Akbar Tandjung, Minister
of Education and Culture Wardiman Djojonegoro as well as the
chairman of the association Enggartiasto Lukita. (32/yns)