March of time tramples historic Tugu kampong

JAKARTA (JP): Residents of the old kampong of Tugu in North Jakarta are doubtful of the city administration's seriousness in preserving the historic area.

They said the city did nothing to execute its plan proposed several years ago to protect the area, which included financing renovations of the people's homes.

Residents claim officials in charge of the project have been unwilling to meet their promises when asked by the residents.

One of the area's oldest residents, Martha Magdalena Michiels, recalled that officials from the city administration began inspecting the area in the early 1990s.

They urged residents to maintain their homes.

"Visiting officials promised to help finance the renovation of our houses. Unfortunately, they've never come back since then to fulfill their promise," said the 80-year-old woman after services at the historic Tugu Church on Sunday.

The mother of eight, who traces her descent from the original Portuguese community, said she and many other residents were too poor to fund the renovation of the houses and maintain the original architecture as desired by the city administration.

She said she made repairs to her dilapidated home and constructed an extension in 1995.

"I did not notify the administration when I extended the front part of the house for my growing family which needs more rooms to live."

Exteriors of the houses, which were originally designed in the Betawi architectural style with a spacious verandah at the front, have been significantly altered over time, with extensions and renovations made.

In the recent past, there were dozens of the original homes remaining.

Today, only three conform to their original design.

The administration issued a gubernatorial decree in 1970, protecting the site together and all buildings located within a radius of 600 meters from the Tugu Portuguese church.

The decree stipulated that all types of construction on the residences and buildings within the protected area could only be done with written permission from the governor.

The regulation has been ignored. Unchecked development means that even the three remaining old buildings are obscured by newer ones.

Resident Andre Abrahams, 32, said the local people should not take all the blame for the changing face of Tugu.

Another local, Marcus, 78, said the administration was also at fault.

He condemned it for failing to do anything concrete to halt development in the area despite issuing the decree.

"I think they just declared it without doing anything," the man said. (ind)