Fort Rotterdam needs breathing space

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.