Historians angered by treatment of old buildings

Historians angered by treatment of old buildings

JAKARTA (JP): Two pieces of bad news regarding the city have
been released this past month. Firstly regarding the ongoing
construction work at the old Antara building on Jl. Antara; and
secondly regarding the mysterious disappearance of the historical
Hermes statue from Harmoni bridge.

The two news items abruptly sparked anger from historians and
supporters of preserved buildings in the capital.

"Everyone should have the responsibility to preserve not only
buildings but also the environment they're in as stipulated in
the newly enacted bylaw on historic buildings," Arya Abieta, an
architect and an expert on old buildings told The Jakarta Post on
Saturday.

Another expert, Sudarmadji Damais, agreed with this.
"Protecting the buildings does not mean the buildings only but
its surrounding area."

According to a report from Antara Photo Journalism Gallery,
which currently occupies the two-story building, the management
of the state-owned news agency recently demolished and is
currently constructing the back part of the heritage registered
old Antara building.

The building, among other things, was home to Antara when the
news agency transmitted news of Indonesia's independence on Aug.
17, 1945 to the world.

The back part of the building would be developed into a four-
story office building.

Antara chief editor Parni Hadi insisted that the ongoing
construction at the building did not breach any regulations
because the back part of the historic building was not included
under the heritage preservation order.

"For sure, as a good citizen, I bow under existing
regulations," he said, adding that he had no idea whether the
works also affected the old building.

Arya said he was concerned the redevelopment would ruin the
old building, which is protected under the 1993 Gubernatorial
Decree on historic buildings in the city.

"As the oldest and prestigious news agency in the country,
Antara should support and show an example of protecting our
national heritage," said Arya, who is also a member of a team on
restoration of the city's historic buildings.

Arya, who is an executive of the Association of Indonesian
Architects (IAI), added that it would be embarrassing if the
press, which should help promote historic buildings, ruined the
country's assets.

"IAI has actually heard about the case and we will study it
soon," he said.

Head of the museum and restoration agency's program division
Indro Kusumo said his agency was aware of the construction works
at the old Antara building.

"Surely every construction work at historic buildings should
also respect the buildings, but the term respect is too
subjective," he said.

Hermes

Separately, central Jakarta police are still puzzled about the
missing Hermes statue from the Harmoni crossroad, a few meters
from the presidential office.

The 94-year-old statue of a little angel boy with one of his
hands raised in the air and the other on his waist has been
reportedly missing since Friday.

Chief of central Jakarta police detectives, Maj. Budiono
Sandi, admitted on Sunday that his men have not yet started
a thorough investigation of the case due to the absence of
reports from the city's related agencies.

He said the statue was not in its original place but he was
not sure whether the statue had been stolen or taken by officials
for certain reasons.

His men's preliminary on-the-spot investigation revealed that
several witnesses at the site, which was busy with traffic, saw
two men in khaki uniforms taking the statue from its place at
around 9 a.m. on Friday.

According to the witnesses, the two men -- believed to be
officials Rosyid and Rosyidin from the city's Polisi Pamong Praja
(administrative civil police) -- stopped at the scene with their
official car, took the statue and headed in the Jl. Juanda
direction.

"We'll go to their office on Monday for further checking,"
Budiono said.

A cigarette seller on Jl. Juanda, however, was quoted by Warta
Kota on Sunday as saying that he saw a mentally sick man climb on
the bridge and shake the statue while screaming.

"The statue inclined to one side ... it could have then broken
and fallen into the river," the seller said.

The bronze Hermes statue was built simultaneously with the
construction of Harmoni bridge over the Ciliwung river in 1905 to
greet traders and passers-by.

Two days before it went missing, it was repainted in a gold
color.

According to historian Candrian, his agency had no cleaning
programs for any statues in the capital at that time .

Another official from his agency, Rusli Hamid, who directly
checked the site rushed to several related offices and
institutions to collect further information.

"I've checked with officers from the mayoralty, local district
and district offices. All of them have no idea about the statue.
I'll soon report this missing to the local police," he said.
(ind/emf/bsr)