Gas stations on greenbelts to be relocated

Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

Starting next year, around 30 gas stations currently occupying green areas and greenbelts in the city will be relocated to other areas because they are violating Bylaw No. 11/1988 on public order.

"We will not issue permits to companies that want to build gas stations in green areas and we will not extend the operation contracts of gas stations currently operating in those areas," the City Mining Agency head Peni Susanti told reporters on Wednesday.

Speaking on the sidelines of a press meeting organized to announce new regulations on business operation permits for gas stations in the city, she referred to the bylaw stipulating that no buildings, including gas stations, are allowed to occupy green areas and greenbelts, which should function as the city's lungs and as catchment areas.

"We are still collecting data on those gas stations occupying green areas," Peni said, without going into details.

Starting Jan. 1, all permits required for the operation of gas stations in the city will be subject to the direct supervision of the City Mining Agency, in accordance with Gubernatorial Decree No. 95/2004 on the operation of oil and gas businesses in the city.

The decree was produced as a guideline for Bylaw No. 11/2003 on the operation of mining, power and energy businesses in the city following the issuance of Law No. 22/2001 on oil and gas, which stipulates that Pertamina is no longer allowed to run businesses in downstream businesses such as gas stations.

"Our priority will be to check the permits of gas stations that have been operating for more than 10 years," the mining agency's oil and gas division head, Ratna Suratmi, said.

City Parks Agency data shows that at least 32 gas stations citywide have occupied some five hectares of parks, median strips and greenbelts.

Sources in the administration said that among the 32 gas stations were those located around the Semanggi cloverleaf and the median strip between Jl. Gajah Mada and Jl. Hayam Wuruk, both in Central Jakarta. The operation permits for these gas stations were issued by then Governor Ali Sadikin during his tenure in the 1970s.

Currently, Jakarta has 208 hectares of parks, 557 hectares of median strips and 1,295 hectares of green areas or city forests.

The administration has targeted to build green zones to cover up to 14 percent of Jakarta's total area of 661 square kilometers by 2010. The green zone currently covers some 9 percent of the city area.

However, some gas stations owners objected the new decrees, saying that it would be overly burdensome for them.

"The regulation will only further add to the bureaucratic burdens in arranging necessary documents from the administration," said an owner of gas station. "We will also have to pay more unofficial fees."