Kemang area

Recently, my wife and I ate at one of the Kemang restaurants which is not supposed to be open anymore according to the city administration which had recently "decorated" such businesses with wooden red crossbars to close them down.

Apart from costing 3,000 to 4,000 people their jobs in times as difficult as these, the closing down of such businesses also would have effectively converted Kemang into a ghost town with a lot of empty buildings with "for rent" signs all over the place. No one in their right mind would have wanted to live in one of these reconverted houses along one of the busiest and most polluted streets the city has to offer.

The proprietor of the restaurant which was not supposed to be there told us that the city government had decreed in favor of the restaurants, shops and other businesses in the area. He added that it was a decision in favor of humanity -- a rare thing these days.

Driving along Jl. Kemang Raya, you can already see various businesses where the red bars have disappeared or have been lifted at least. So if the city administration really "has seen the light" this time, I would like to congratulate them on a wise decision that, I believe, is favorable to the majority of the people living and working in the area.

ROLAND WOEHRLE

Jakarta