Jakarta: An old city that goes nowhere

Damar Harsanto, Jakarta

To commemorate Jakarta's 477th anniversary, The Jakarta Post is running special reports on problems faced by city Along with the festivities staged by the city the private sector, the anniversary day on Tuesday, is a good time to highlight problems faced by Jakartans, including the lack of public transportation and proper cheap housing.

Jakarta's Governor Sutiyoso is famous for his pithy slogans. His latest was uttered at the groundbreaking ceremony of one of his ambitious transportation projects, the city monorail, a week before the city celebrated its anniversary on Tuesday, June 22.

"Jakarta -- a better city, a better life!", the governor shouted.

It's unsurprising that many Jakartans have remained uninspired by this call. Because, despite these words, Jakarta is still a city with harrowing problems.

In a bid to make "a better city", the administration has been busy with at least five projects worth billions of rupiah during the past two years, not to mention the about Rp 500 billion (US$53.76 million) spent on the busway project.

The renovation of Hotel Indonesia traffic circle took Rp 14 billion; the construction of Gen. Soedirman statue Rp 3.5 billion; the fencing of the National Monument (Monas) Park Rp 9 billion, while the coating of Arjuna Wijaya statue with bronze cost the city coffers Rp 4 billion.

To enliven the celebration of Jakarta's anniversary this year, the administration is flooding Monas with a light show worth Rp 15 billion, bringing the total spending on decorative projects to a hefty Rp 45.5 billion.

The amount is higher than the emergency fund of Rp 40 billion allocated to poor residents affected by the dengue fever outbreak earlier this year.

The officials said the decorative fund was in part donated to by private companies in exchange for advertising spots in the city.

Still, many feel it is a glaring irony the administration paid far less attention to finding solutions to the city's reoccurring developmental problems -- flooding, a shortage of cheap housing, unemployment and water and waste management.

Critics pointed to its failure to warn residents of the flood in February 2002 that killed 30 people and forced about 300,000 into shelters.

It was also slammed for failing to predict and quickly deal with this year's five-year peak of dengue hemorrhagic fever, which killed 77 people and hospitalized more than 3,500.

The administration's willingness to designate areas earmarked for city development plans into commercial areas has also been called into question.

In the wake of the 1997 financial crisis, many companies closed or scaled down their activities, laying off thousands of professionals and unskilled workers.

To survive, the skilled began converting their homes into commercial premises or established their own shops or food stalls on sidewalks, while many of the less-fortunate unskilled residents resorted to taking up jobs as street hawkers, beggars, joined street gangs or turned to petty crime.

"Changes in the city's development plan are needed ... But, we will see them case by case. In principle, any changes should not sacrifice green and open areas," Sutiyoso said recently.

Such a case-by-case scenario, however, has raised criticism from an outspoken observer who has written histories of the city, Adolf Heuken.

He said the lack of a coherent road map for the city's development had led to the administration taking discriminatory action against many residents.

For the rich, Heuken said, the administration gave mercy, sometimes turning a blind eye to the illegal conversion of houses into business premises.

Meanwhile, aggressive demolition and eviction policies against slum residents and street vendors left no breathing space for negotiation, he said.

These discriminatory policies could also be seen in the issuance of permits for the construction and operation of many enterprises. Shopping malls and gas stations were often permitted to be located near riverbanks and encroach into green areas.

Prominent Betawi (native Jakartan) observer Ridwan Saidi voiced similar concerns about the rapid development of the city, which he said had got out of hand.

"This is a city with a limitless demand for land development and few controls. Evictions will be carried out aggressively because rich conglomerates want to build plush housing estates, offices, leased apartments for expatriates and shopping centers," Ridwan writes in his book Betawi dan Modernisasi Jakarta (Betawi and the modernization of Jakarta).

"This is a city with a poor environment -- seawater intrusion, disappearing mangrove forests, poorly-maintained parks ... (However) people will still come and live here, or at least force themselves to stay," he writes. As the center of the nation's business and government the capital city would remain a magnet for migrants, he says.

Sutiyoso, meanwhile has no difficulty waxing rhetorical about the city's future: "We have to develop the city so that it remains competitive in the region," was his frequent call ahead of the anniversary.

However, his critics say concrete action, not words or beautification projects, is what is really needed. And they're still waiting.

Happy anniversary, Jakarta.