Historians fight for island
JAKARTA (JP): Historians have asked the municipality to declare Onrust Island, in the Thousand Islands chain, a heritage park to save its historical sites.
Dirman Surachmat, former head of the city's museum and historical agency, said yesterday that the appeal was made during a two-day symposium on the island.
A similar appeal was made during two previous symposiums but the municipality seemed slow to respond, he said.
This week's symposium, which ended Wednesday, was aimed at highlighting the cultural significance of the island to the international community and providing the city administration with suggestions for preserving it.
The 12-hectare Onrust (which means "always busy" in Dutch) Island can be reached by boat from Tanjung Priok Port within 90 minutes.
The island has a collection of historical ruins, including a fort from the Dutch colonial era.
It was used early this century as a quarantine center for Indonesians before and after the haj pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia.
Onrust Island has been neglected since Indonesia's independence in 1945 and its destruction continued until the 1960s, when it was abandoned and the ruins virtually ignored.
The symposium also suggested the municipality conserve Cipir, Kelor and Bidadari islands and declare the area a heritage park.
"The nearby islands should be protected as well. The natural factors, such as waves and strong winds, and human involvement, such as sand dredging, removing coral and stealing pieces of the buildings have contributed to the island's poor condition," Dirman said.
"Actually environmental deterioration of the historical vestiges of Onrust Island and its surroundings can be brought under control by allowing the site to be used for archeological research, marine and historical tourism, and as a heritage park to be included on the world heritage list," Candrian Attahiyyat, head of the symposium's organizing committee, said.
Candrian said that until now the municipality has not come up with a plan to save the island.
"Therefore, we urge the city administration and central government to preserve the island by seeking the support of other international communities, especially historians and archeologists," he said.
The city's assistant for economic and development affairs, Prawoto Danumihardjo, told The Jakarta Post that the municipality has yet to decide on a plan to save Onrust Island.
"The municipality has tried some approaches in order to find the right development plan for the island but we can't reveal it now," he said.
Haswidi Taufik, head of the city's museum and renovation agency, said yesterday that his agency will present the results of the symposium to the governor early next year.
An official, who asked not to be named, said the city did not even have a complete map of Onrust Island.
"How can the city formulate a plan if we haven't even got the right map?" he said.
Dirman said that the city needs to enact a decree to maintain the island.
"It's worthless if we keep on talking without doing anything to save the island," he said. "The island may erode away while we are still talking about it." (07)