Investors needed to speed up Kota renewal project

JAKARTA (JP): The city administration is inviting private companies to invest in the development of Jakarta's old city to speed up the rejuvenation of the Kota area in North Jakarta.

An official at the city design and renovation agency, Wisnu Murti, said on Saturday that the implementation of the project has been slow because there are not many people interested in investing in the downtown area.

Wisnu, who is the head of the agency's renovation department, said that private companies are being urged to invest in Kota by restoring old buildings for use as tourism sites, such as restaurants, hotels or souvenir shops.

"There are many old buildings in the area that could be used as tourism sites. Unfortunately only a few private companies are interested in investing here," he told reporters who participated in a one-day tour of the area organized by the Omni Batavia hotel.

Many of the old buildings were used as warehouses and owned by individuals and private companies. "Investors can contact the owners and deal with them directly," Wisnu said.

Several investors have already linked up with owners of the old buildings. Seven old buildings on Jl. Kalibesar Timur will be converted into the Panghegar Heritage Hotel, he cited.

"The city administration will support all investors as long as they do not change the buildings' design, as our main objective is to preserve the architectural legacy of the buildings," Wisnu said.

Due to this factor the project will not be completed soon. "At the moment the city administration cannot say when the whole Kota area will be renovated," he added.

The city administration launched the project to revive Kota as one of Jakarta's tourism locations because there are many old buildings dating to the Dutch colonial era that it believes would attract foreign tourists.

There are many tourism sites in Kota, which covers a total of 139 hectares in North and West Jakarta, such as Sunda Kalapa port, Jakarta's historical museum, the Wayang museum, the Ceramic museum and the Luar Batang village.

Meanwhile, West Jakarta Mayor Sutardjianto said the city administration is preparing facilities as well as improving the environment.

Sutardjianto said his mayoralty is still carrying out a project to improve Jl. Pancoran and Jl. Petak Sembilan in Kota. The Rp 2 billion (US$869,565) scheme is expected to be completed in December this year.

"The West and North Jakarta mayoralties have also cleaned up the rivers flowing around the area by demolishing illegal buildings along the riverbanks. We have also relocated or closed down warehouses in the area," he said.

The mayor said there were 139 warehouses in his mayoralty, 36 of which had been relocated to industrial estates, six converted for other purposes, and 94 closed down.

He said the mayoralty had sealed the 94 warehouses because the owners refused to close them down and insisted on continuing operating from them.

"This means that there are at least 139 old buildings which are available to be transformed into tourism sites and public facilities," he said. (yns)