Gas station owners not informed of relocation plan
Gas station owners not informed of relocation plan
JAKARTA (JP): An executive of the gas station owners'
association said that the union has not received official notice
from the city administration about the planned relocation of gas
stations which occupy areas formerly designated for use as parks.
A.S. Siregar, the chairman of the Jakarta chapter of the
National Association of Private Oil Companies (Hiswana Migas),
told The Jakarta Post yesterday that he only became aware of the
municipal administration's plan from newspapers.
"We have not yet received a definite schedule of the
relocation programs," said Siregar, suggesting that the city
administration discuss the issue first with the state-owned oil
company, Pertamina.
But Siregar said that the association would support any policy
adopted by the city administration about the relocation programs.
The issue of relocating public buildings from city parks,
including gas stations, resurfaced recently after city officials
and councilors underlined the necessity for an urgent solution to
Jakarta's notorious air pollution problem.
Syamsir Alam, the head of the City Park Office, said earlier
this week in a hearing with the City Council that all gas
stations built on parks should be returned to their original
function by 1998.
The relocation program, Syamsir said, is in line with the city
administration's plan to convert some 6,500 hectares or 10
percent of Jakarta's total area into green zones by 2005.
At present 3,400 hectares of city land are classified as green
areas.
In order to reach the target, Syamsir said that the municipal
administration will not extend land use permits for gas stations
whose permits have expired.
Siregar said that most gas stations built on green areas in
the city belong to Pertamina.
"They have not been privatized yet," he added.
According to Siregar some city parks were converted to gas
stations in the 1970s to meet the escalating demand for petrol
caused by the rapid increase in private cars which followed the
oil boom.
Pertamina was not available for comment.
The Ministry of Transportation reported last year that vehicle
ownership in Jakarta, home to some 1.3 million private cars and
170,000 public vehicles, is growing at 5.1 percent annually.
Central Jakarta
In a related development, the Central Jakarta mayoralty
administration announced this week that four gas stations,
including two on Jl. Sumur Batu, one on Jl. Kwitang and another
on Jl. Tanah Abang Timur, would be relocated to other parts of
the city.
In a bid to smoothen the implementation of the relocation
programs, the City Council has called on the city administration
to cooperate with Pertamina.
Mansyur Achmad, the chairman of the City Council's commission
D on development, said that the city has already converted 66 of
302 former green areas to their original functions.
The municipal administration has allocated Rp 150 million
(US$69,100) in the current 1994/1995 fiscal year to return 14.34
hectares of former green areas to their intended functions. (09)