Main street turn into playground on Sundays

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.