Main street turn into playground on Sundays

Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Here in the capital, many Jakartans play soccer in places you would not think were the most ideal -- in the middle of the road. And yes, they do it on the city's main thoroughfares such as Jl. MH Thamrin, Jl. Jend.Sudirman and Jl. Rasuna Said.

Every Sunday morning, hundreds of people can be seen playing soccer or badminton - the two most popular sports in the country -- but there are also usually a host of roller-skaters, cyclists and joggers to add to the mix.

Many people here live by the Latin proverb: Mens sana in corpore sano (a healthy body makes a healthy soul), but due to a lake of public recreation areas most are forced to hit the streets to find a place to exercise. Huge crowds of people also can be found at the National Monument (Monas) park and the Bung Karno sports stadium in Senayan.

The stadium and the park are usually overcrowded with thousands of cyclists, joggers, badminton players, walkers, soccer players or people doing a local version of aerobics, the Sajojo and Poco-poco "dances".

Add to that hundreds of kite-flying enthusiasts and groups of street artists who perform all manner of magic tricks which can include fire or snakes.

Many street hawkers also add to the mix. They sell various kinds of things, from food and drinks to clothes and kitchenware.

For Budi and his family, these crowds at the park became too much for them to enjoy themselves, so now they prefer to go to Jl. Sudirman for sports.

"Here the place is spacious so that we can exercise freely, undisturbed by crowds," said Budi, who works as administration staff at Saint Carolus hospital in Central Jakarta.

Budi plays badminton with his wife, while their young son cheers on the active couple.

The street, which is notorious for its heavy traffic jams from Monday to Saturday, looks totally different on Sunday mornings. The fast lanes are usually blocked, and motorists must detour to the slow lanes.

Dozens of police women often patrol on their bicycles to keep the temporary "parks" in order and free from cars or trucks.

Even though motorized vehicles are barred from the fast lanes, many people still complain of pollution from the passing vehicles.

"If you want to exercise in fresh air, come before seven. After that, the air will be polluted by dense smog from passing motorists," said Widigdo, a resident of Tanah Abang subdistrict in Central Jakarta, who was exercising on Jl. Thamrin.

He also took his wheelchair-bound mother along for a Sunday outing.

Widigdo, however, groaned that pubic parks were far too scarce in Jakarta.

According to data from the City Parks Agency, Jakarta has only about 9 percent green areas of the total 63,744 hectares here. That includes 208.6 hectares of parks, 557.8 hectares of green median strips, and 1,295.5 hectares of undeveloped open areas which can be used for recreation.

Many of the places which should serve as the "city's lungs", water catchment areas or for public recreation have been transformed into residential or industrial estates.