Govt to rebuild 250 public parks
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)