Groundbreaking ceremony of Koridor Satrio canceled
JAKARTA (JP): The city administration abruptly canceled the groundbreaking for Jakarta's first international tourism and shopping belt just hours before the ceremony was scheduled to go ahead yesterday evening.
Hundreds of invitees and performers were surprised by the news when they arrived at the Koridor Satrio site on Jl. Prof. Dr. Satrio in Central Jakarta.
Dozens of reporters could only report on the disappointed faces of performers, who were attired in costume and makeup.
The city administration could not explain the cancellation.
There were rumors Governor Surjadi Soedirdja, who was scheduled to lead the ceremony, was upset after learning that some of the planned projects along the 1.8-kilometer street have not yet fulfilled requirements of the existing environment law.
Surjadi was scheduled to be at Mal Ciputra basement at 6:30 p.m. yesterday to mark the beginning of work on the Koridor Satrio project.
Hundreds of people, including high-ranking government officials, diplomats and businesspeople were reportedly invited by the city administration to witness the event.
Mal Ciputra is one of the planned projects to be built on the street.
Poedji I.H. Prasetyo from PT Citra Development public relations, said she learned about the cancellation of the ceremony at about 11 a.m..
"So far, I've not received any information from the city officers on why the ceremony was canceled so suddenly," she told The Jakarta Post.
"I was only told the governor asked to cancel the ceremony," Poedji added.
According to Poedji, property owners on Jl. Prof. Satrio support the city's planned Koridor Satrio project. "But we're not organizers of the ceremony," she said, concerned that invitees would blame her company for the unexpected cancellation.
Poedji said city officers had called important invitees, such as high-ranking officials and diplomats about the canceled venue.
Police Chief Sergeant Toto confirmed there were no important figures among disappointed invitees at the site of the scheduled ceremony yesterday.
Workers at the site started taking down banners shortly after they were informed about the cancellation.
Performers of the native Jakarta Ondel-ondel puppets and members of a marching band group were disappointed by the news.
City Spokesman Amaludin Santos could not be reached for comment.
According to the plan, completion of the 100-hectare Koridor Satrio project would help speed up Jakarta's goal of becoming a high-class service city.
The Rp 10 trillion (US$3.7 billion) shopping and tourist project is expected to be completed within 10 to 20 years.
So far, nine private investors are involved in the Koridor Satrio project which will include environmentally friendly sidewalks, shopping malls, sidewalk cafes, restaurants, art galleries and a tourist information office.
The project aims to create a friendly environment for pedestrians.
Jl. Prof. Dr. Satrio is situated in the city's golden triangle business district, linking Jl. HR Rasuna Said in the east and Jl. Jend. Sudirman in the west. (ste/bsr)