Don't spoil Condet

Don't spoil Condet

From Merdeka

Although I'm not originally from Condet, as a longtime resident of Jakarta, I sympathize with Condet's plight which has resurfaced and become a hot topic after the word spread that the Jakarta administration intended to buy up the area.

Undoubtedly, the administration's plan falls in line with our hopes of maintaining the Condet region as a cultural reserve in Jakarta. It is clear that the culture of Condet should be kept alive. It should be maintained forever, since its value is priceless.

This should also be taken into consideration by the authorities who govern Jakarta. There is nothing left to be proud of in terms of the culture and nature of Jakarta except for Condet, which has established a reputation for its exotic fruits such as dukuh, salak and also the Betawi culture.

It has to be admitted that the city administration's plan has been accepted by Condet people with fear and mixed feelings. It could be just an appropriation scheme by the regional government to uproot Condet people from the land of their forebears. Concrete proof of this can be observed from the mushrooming of new housing estates and new settlers who are living far better than the original people of Condet.

New settlers, in particular, have built homes in the cultural reserve area which was established in former governor Ali Sadikin's days.

It is hard to imagine what would happen to Condet if it was not controlled and taken care of. The region might just vanish from the Jakarta region.

A name might be left, remembered by an older generation, but forgotten by the next.

Therefore, I would like to suggest that the Jakarta administration seriously start to take care and protect Condet from the new settlers since it could mean the destruction of the cultural reserve.

FRANS DS

Jakarta