Fort Rotterdam needs breathing space

By Hasanuddin Hamid

MAKASSAR, South Sulawesi (JP): Fort Rotterdam, the 16th century building that is a legacy of the Dutch colonial age, is one of the few historical buildings left intact, but it is slowly choking to death.

Unlike many other such buildings here, it has escaped being pulled down to make way for the city's development, but it is now being squeezed tightly between office and residential buildings. A lack of funds for maintenance compounds the matter.

To the north of the city is the local state radio station building, RRI Nusantara IV. To the south, stands the building of the regional office of the ministry of industry and trade and the office of the Indonesian war veterans. To the east, Makassar grand post office, the offices of Bukopin Bank, Mandiri Bank, former Bank Duta and residential sprawl...

To keep the fort in good condition and preserve its historical value as well as originality, said Gunadi, head of the historical and archaeological legacy reserve center for South-East Sulawesi, this old fort should not be located near other buildings. Clearly, the proximity of modern office buildings to this fort is a constraint that the local administration must remove.

Gunadi said that in 1998/99 the reserve center planned to provide a "breathing space" outside the fort, taken by many as a symbol of the Gowa Kingdom, by constructing a path outside the fort. Unfortunately, this construction was terminated because of the establishment of a residential area. Another reason was the funds Makassar Tourism Service had pledged did not materialize.

At present some 20 families reside in the northern and eastern parts of the fort. The walls of local houses became coterminous with the walls of the fort. "The reserve center finds it difficult to clean and conserve the walls of the fort as most residents' houses are permanent," said Gunadi.

In its earliest form, the renovation of Fort Rotterdam was geared towards moving away office buildings in a bid to preserve its originality. Unfortunately, the plan had to be abandoned due to lack of funds.

The key to successful management of an ancient building is adequate space. This means moving away the more recent buildings now standing around the fort, Gunadi said.

An initial sketch of the fort, made by the Dutch, shows that Fort Rotterdam was considered the city center. As office buildings have been built around the fort with walls joined on to those of the fort, it is really hard to convince the younger generation that this was actually the center of Makassar City.

In Korea, Gunadi said by way of example, the government has issued a regulation that a fort must have open space for a distance of about 30 m from its outer boundary.

When he was assigned in Central Java, Gunadi said, he proposed to the regional administration that a fort or a historic building should have open space for about 200-500 meters around it. The regional administration agreed and devised the regional regulation.

He added that he had asked the regional administration of Makassar City and the local regional legislative assembly to see to it that the architecture of historical buildings should be preserved.

"It is true that Law No. 5/1992 on preserved cultural objects is still in force, but a decision from the municipality or a regional regulation will be needed to add force to Law No. 5/1992," Gunadi said.

Defense of Gowa King

The fort was built in 1545 by the 9th Gowa King, Imanriogau Daeng Bonto Karaeng Lakiung, with the title of Karaeing Tunipllangga Ulaweing. The building was called Ujungpandang Fort or Jumpandang Fort because it is surrounded by pandanus trees (ujung pandang literally means the tip of pandanus leaves.)

Indigenous Makassar people, however, call this fort the Fort of Panynyua (a word in Makassar meaning "a turtle", because it is turtle-shaped.

When the Bungaya treaty was signed on 18 November, 1667, marking the fall of the Gowa Kingdom into Dutch hands, the name of the fort was changed to Vlaardingen.

When Dutch Governor General Speelman ruled over Makassar, he changed again the name of the fort to Fort Rotterdam, in memory of his birthplace in Holland.

In a book titled Menyusuri Jejak Kehadiran Makassar dalam Sejarah (Tracing the Historical Path of Ujungpandang), expert on anthropology and history of Hasanuddin University Prof Matullada, said that the architecture of Fort Rotterdam was much influenced by models of buildings in the middle ages, which in general were not that different from forts built in Europe in 16th century - 17th century.

Fort Rotterdam is about 21,000 square meters in area. Its rear and sides are 4-6 meters high. The door to the front part of the fort overlooking the sea is 7 m high and was originally intended to drive away attacks from the Dutch fleet. A number of ancient cannons are placed at the four corners of the fort, known as bastions.

Inside the fort there are 15 Dutch-style buildings, namely, among others, the Archaeological Center, the Makassar Arts Council and the Museum of La Galigo (named after a Bugis intellectual). The museum has a collection of items making up South Sulawesi's royal legacy.

On April 27, 1997, Fort Rotterdam was officially declared the Cultural Center of South Sulawesi.