Last open spaces up for sale

Last open spaces up for sale

The planned sale of property at Cibubur camping ground in East
Jakarta has sparked controversy. It is only one of a number of
cases which illustrate how the Jakarta administration sacrifices
the city's green and open spaces for commercial purposes. The
Jakarta Post's Rita A.Widiadana, Ida Indawati Khouw, Maria Endah
Hulupi and Imelda Anwar explore the issue. Noted urbanist Marco
Kusumawijaya also contributes his ideas.

JAKARTA (JP): Every Saturday and Sunday, hundreds of school
students, scout members and holidaymakers flock to the Cibubur
camping ground in East Jakarta to get a taste of nature.

For only Rp 1,000, they can happily spend their weekend
camping at the site, canoeing on a pond, cycling, jogging or
participating in various other outdoor activities available at
the shady and pristine camping ground, now named after the late
Mrs. Tien Soeharto, wife of former president Soeharto, herself an
avid scout patron.

Easily accessible from the Jagorawi toll road, the Cibubur
camping site has been a perfect holiday spot for the youth who
love nature and the "have-nots" who cannot afford going to discos
or exclusive golf courses and sports centers.

"I'm looking forward to going camping in the next school
holiday on March 12," said Dinda, a scout member.

In the past, if you were hungry, you could only get ketoprak,
mixed vegetables poured with coconut dressing or cheap mie ayam,
chicken with noodles. Now, the famous franchise restaurants like
MacDonald's, Pizza Hut, Dunkin' Donuts and ample other
restaurants and cafes are ready to delight your appetite while
camping at the site.

In the coming months, if approved, this once pristine camping
ground will boast an international-scale hyper mall, a concert
hall and various exclusive establishments to cater for the
visitors and nearby residents of adjacent exclusive housing
estates like Kota Legenda Wisata, Rafflesia and Bukit Permai.
What a wonderful scenario--at least for the planned developer, PT
Kurnia Philio Selaras, which bought a 3.2 hectare plot of land in
the Cibubur complex from the city-owned PT Pembangunan Sarana
Jaya.

Syaukat Banjaransari, head of the National Scout Board, has
expressed his concern over the plan. "We don't have any power to
stop the project, but don't they realize that it will affect
scout and youth activities which are supposed to promote training
and self-discipline," he said, adding he is afraid that young
people will prefer hanging out and chatting in the planned
shopping mall.

For urbanists and environmentalists, the proposed project is
also a disaster as the camp site has been designated as the
city's greenery and open space needed to help prevent flooding
and to function as the city's "lungs".

Professor Bianpoen, an environment expert at the University of
Indonesia's postgraduate course, sees the plan as a deceitful
action by the city authority.

"It is their right to sell any of the government's property
provided that they report it to the city legislative council and
other related parties," the professor said.

However, they have not realized the serious impact on society
and the environment which may arise from this land appropriation.

PT Pembangunan Sarana Jaya reportedly sold the land to a
private investor to pay its huge debt. Justifying its action, the
company's top management still denied any wrongdoing in selling
the Cibubur land when they were questioned last Thursday by the
City Inspectorate.

Kemal Basha, one of the company's directors, argued, "The
Cibubur site is part of our assets. We do not need to ask for
approval from the City Council to run our own business."

The company received Rp 2 billion in down payments of the
total Rp 27.2 billion in total value. Rp 130 million of the total
down payment has reportedly been awarded to the company's
employees as bonuses.

"By selling that property, the city government has violated
its own master plan," he said.

Ethically, it was not right to sell a plot of land to pay the
debt of the city government while at the same time shatter the
environment and ignore the interests of young people, said
Bianpoen.

Urban expert Marco Kusumawijaya agreed and wrote "Cibubur
might be "a committed project"-- further City Hall jargon --
during the process of master planning. And all this has been
taking place without public awareness until the news leaked
reluctantly.

Many buildings now occupy areas of land that were, in a
previous master plan, categorized as "green open space,"
including Mulia Hotel at Senayan, Taman Anggrek Mall in Tomang,
West Java, Park Royal Apartments and many other examples.

Jakarta used to be home to more than 500 parks covering an
area of 177.29 square kilometers. It has been reduced to only 220
parks, with more than 300 parks taken for other purposes.

The city's parks and greenery areas function as the city's
lung and water catchment areas to preserve groundwater and to
help prevent flooding in the city. A reduction in the number of
parks and green areas will influence the quality of life in the
city.

A city that is completely "full" is suffocating literally and
psychologically, Marco said.

Noted sociologist Sarjono Jatiman portrays Jakarta as
"a jungle" in which the people live in a chaotic condition and a
feeling of insecurity.

"Such a situation will affect people mentally and physically,"
Sarjono said.

Charles Suryadi, a professor of public health at the
University of Atmajaya, Jakarta, added that Jakarta's present
condition has adversely affected public health.

"There is no place in Jakarta which is considered healthy," he
said, adding that air pollution, lack of clean water and poor
sanitation contributed to increasing health problems among
Jakartans.

Bianpoen said the city government is undergoing a
mall development program.

Mall development ignores nature's harmony, reducing it from
being the creator and sustainer of life to being merely a
resource, to be exploited, to benefit a small elite at the top of
society, writes Vandane Shiva in his book Staying Alive.

Development projects benefit only the rich. "You can see a lot
of luxury buildings, houses, but I'm sure people who work or live
there are afraid of being attacked or robbed if they appear in
public," he said.

The mall development concept creates a wide social gap between
the poor and the rich and in the end will result in social
problems, including increasing crime rates, drug abuse, and
growing numbers of poor people.

Bianpoen said that for Jakarta, the population will be worse
off as by the year 2020 it will then be 3-4 times the current 9.5
million. Simple calculation shows that such a condition, with the
current level of technology, is not livable because it is far
beyond the carrying capacity of the city. Take just one item,
water. There will be simply be not enough of it for so many
people.

Asiaweek's recent survey ranks Jakarta 36 out of 40 cities in
Asia for its poor services, incomes, livability and crime rates.

The confiscation of open public places and green areas like
Cibubur camping ground in the city will worsen the living quality
of Jakarta and eliminate hopes of having healthy young
generations in the future.

At this point, it seems appropriate to voice an urgent call to
the city government. In Marco's words, "Jakarta has lost much
already. Let there be no more loss."