Govt to rebuild 250 public parks
JAKARTA (JP): The City Park Agency plans to rebuild 250 city gardens and parks, which each occupy over one square kilometer of land, in order to better serve the public.
"From 1988 to 1993 the office succeeded in returning 55 of 305 public parks which had been used for other purposes," Syamsir Alam, the Agency chief, said yesterday.
"This year and next we expect to rebuild 25 public parks with another 169 and 56 in 1996 and 1997, respectively," he said.
According to Syamsir, most of the parks whose functions have been changed are found in South Jakarta. The number is recorded at 77. The second highest number of 56 is found in East Jakarta, followed by West Jakarta (48), Central Jakarta (42) and North Jakarta (27).
He explained that limited space in the capital is the main cause of the "misuse" of public parks, although some classic demographic problems in a big city, including urbanization and the increasing demand for public service facilities, contribute to reducing the area of public parks.
He acknowledged that public service facilities in Jakarta are using sites allocated for public parks, saying that two gas stations on Jl. Pakubuwono, South Jakarta, those on Jl. Sudirman and Jl. Matraman, both in Central Jakarta, are located on public parks.
However, he said that coordination is needed to relocate those gas stations because the Agency will try to increase the area of some greeneries without obstructing services of public facilities.
Earlier yesterday, Governor Surjadi Soedirdja told reporters that the city administration will try to develop as many green areas as possible. He added that to do so, people should first accept the apartment lifestyle being promoted by the administration as it will give more space for the city's greeneries.
Singapore has the same land area as Jakarta, he pointed out, yet 90 percent of Singaporeans live in apartments, and 49 percent of its total area is set aide for greeneries.
"That city has become very green," he said.
He also asked that residents support the administration's programs which are aimed at increasing and maintaining public welfare.
The governor also announced his plan to launch the "Second One Million Trees Movement" during the 1994-1995 fiscal year following the success of the first program last year, when the city added 1,264,000 trees.
Supporting the governor's plan, Syamsir said that by the year 2005 the Agency expects to build approximately 6,000 hectares of public parks. For that purpose, the Agency has installed seven artesian wells in Central Jakarta.
The wells are expected to reduce the maintenance costs of the city's green areas since the office requires around 7,200 liters of water to keep the trees and plants alive.
"If we use trucks to carry water they will not only hamper the traffic but are also costly," he said.
The Agency employs some 500 workers including 10 landscapers to maintain the city's parks and gardens.(03)