Management shake-up proposed for Monas

Management shake-up proposed for Monas

JAKARTA (JP): The City Parks Agency has proposed an integrated
system to properly manage the National Monument (Monas) park,
dubbed as a landmark of the capital, as it is still in disorder
due to the presence of too many street traders and a chaotic
parking system, an official said.

The agency's chief, Dadang Ruskandar, said on Saturday that
the proposal had been submitted to Governor Sutiyoso and that his
office has agreed that all matters concerning the park, such as
development, security and maintenance, be handled by a single
agency.

"For years there have been at least three agencies managing
the park and what we have seen is a permanent state of disorder
there with street vendors everywhere and chaotic parking lots,"
Dadang told journalists at a ceremony marking the planting of
some 1,000 trees in the park.

For many years the parking lots in the park had been handled
by the city parking agency, the roads by the city public works
agency, while the maintenance and beautification of the park was
the responsibility of his office, Dadang said.

"Sometimes we made plans and decisions separately, so there
have been no integrated regulations concerning the management of
the park," he added.

"In the proposal, we have asked the city administration to
establish a special board or appoint one of the agencies to be
responsible so that we can have more integrated decision-making
and an overall design for the capital's landmark," Dadang said.

For example, he explained that there would be special sites
for street vendors, new parking regulations and that fences would
be erected around the park so that vehicles could be kept out, as
well as the imposition of restrictions on the playing of football
inside the park's boundaries.

"If the park's management is under one office, we can arrange
all that easily," Dadang said.

The 82-hectare park, the largest in the capital, is the site
of the National Monument (Monas). A total of 750 trees have been
planted as part of the city's ongoing efforts to spruce up the
park.

The 132-meter monument itself was one of former president
Soekarno's projects, and takes the form of a phallus with a flame
on the top coated with 32 kilograms of pure gold, symbolizing
Indonesia's courageous struggle.

The city administration spends Rp 360 million annually on the
maintenance of the city's parks. Other projects, such as the
planned construction of an underground parking lot, an
amphitheater and the planting of various types of trees, have
also been mooted so as to beautify the park.

For the 2000 fiscal year, the city administration has
allocated Rp 7.3 billion to finance the park's regreening and
management plan, the renovation of pedestrian areas, the erection
of a statue of national hero Prince Diponegoro, kiosks for local
street vendors and the construction of an amphitheater.

The planting of the trees worth Rp 100 million on Saturday
morning was also witnessed by Governor Sutiyoso and was sponsored
by Sony group, the giant electronics company from Japan.

In his speech, the governor said: "I will urge all companies
to participate in such activities so as to help the city
administration to maintain city parks." (dja)