Jakartans invited to rally against fencing of Monas
Ahmad Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Jakartans have been invited to flock to the National Monument (Monas) square on Sunday and make a human chain as a protest against the installment of a fence around the park, being built by the city administration using Rp 9 billion in public money.
The event coordinator, architect Marco Kusumawijaya revealed that some 4,000 people from the Urban Poor Consortium (UPC) and the Jakarta Residents Forum (Fakta), were prepared to join hands in the human chain.
He said several noted figures, including political expert Arief Budiman, musician Harry Roesli, chairwoman of the Indonesian Forum for Environment (Walhi) Emmy Hafild and female novelist Ayu Utami would take part.
"The human chain is a symbol of our rejection of the city administration's effort to reduce public space and to highlight the worst of the city's policies," Marco told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.
He said that Monas square, or Lapangan Merdeka, like many squares in cities around the world, should not be closed off, but left open as a public space.
He also stated that Monas square had never been closed since the first Dutch governor had it built two hundred years ago as the beautiful centerpiece of the city.
"Lapangan Merdeka is a public square, which should not be closed to the public," The Belgium-educated Marco, who was nominated by Fakta as a gubernatorial candidate, said.
He considered the installment of a fence around the famous square as a militaristic approach by the administration under Governor Sutiyoso, who was a former Jakarta military commander.
Separately, Fakta's chairman Azas Tigor Nainggolan invited Jakartans who opposed the installment of the fence to join the human chain which will start at 9 a.m. on Sunday.
"It's a symbol of our protest over the installment of the fence and also our rejection to the reelection of Sutiyoso," Tigor, who, along with other activists was still demanding the annulment of the recent gubernatorial election, told the Post on Saturday.
However, he promised that the protest would be conducted peacefully, and that they would not attempt to break the fence down, which is about half complete.
The administration earlier claimed that the installment of the fence was aimed at protecting the square from street traders who overcrowd the square.
However, many experts said that the installment was aimed at reducing and controlling demonstrations which are often held there. They said it was part of Sutiyoso's efforts to win President Megawati Soekarnoputri's support for his election.
The square is a popular site for street rallies against Sutiyoso or Megawati as the square faces Sutiyoso's office to its south and Megawati's Merdeka Presidential Palace to the north.