Gas stations on greenbelts to be relocated

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."