Merely dreams, not reality: Jakarta city forests, green areas
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Jakarta, heavily polluted by choking exhaust fumes, is hot during the dry season but is often hit by floods during the rainy season.
No wonder. Jakarta's total area of only 63,744 hectares, inhabited by more than 10 million residents, has only 200.7 hectares of forest, or about 0.3 percent of the total area.
According to government regulations, forest should comprise 10 percent of the total area.
Hot weather, polluted air and floods, which have become commonplace in the capital, are simply impacts of the chronic lack of forest, which acts as the city's lungs.
And along with other forests outside Jakarta and green areas, forests in the city also function as water catchment areas.
Trees in the city absorb hazardous gas emissions and produce fresh air, and also serve to absorb water during the rainy season, thus minimizing floods.
Governor Sutiyoso admitted on Thursday that his administration had long neglected environmental issues while it built roads and buildings.
"Our administration, especially the City Public Works Agency, often fells trees to construct buildings or roads although I have ordered them to replant new trees instead of cutting trees," Sutiyoso said at City Hall in his opening address of a seminar to make governmental regulations on city forests.
However, he failed to mention anything about the disappearance of forested areas, including in Tomang, West Jakarta, or the dwindling protected forest in Angke Kapuk, North Jakarta.
Sutiyoso's administration has also failed to prevent more than 350 buildings, including fuel stations, police posts, power relay stations, shops and kiosks, from occupying green areas, such as parks, median strips and greenbelts.
"But, in fact, I am planning to carry out reforestation in areas like Kemayoran and Gelora Bung Karno, but the plan has been hampered by the state secretary," Sutiyoso said, referring to the right of the central government to manage the now-defunct Kemayoran airport and the Bung Karno Sports Stadium.
The City Administration and State Secretary have been engaged in a political tug-of-war recently to win control of the two income-generating assets.
Sutiyoso vowed to implement a reforestation scheme in the two areas if they were under his administration's control.
"There will be no construction of buildings for commercial purposes like malls or hotels. We will run them at a loss, not for profits, as done by the state secretary. We have our own financial sources."
Meanwhile, the head of the city's Agriculture and Forestry Agency, Peni Susanti, said it had targeted increasing forest areas by up to 13 percent of Jakarta's total area by 2010.
Peni said there were 200.7 hectares of city forests, but only 85.70 hectares had been officially declared as forest in accordance with the gubernatorial decrees.
The forests were located in Srengseng, South Jakarta (15 hectares), the University of Indonesia campus in Depok (54.40 hectares), Sunter dam in North Jakarta, Kemayoran in Central Jakarta (4.6 hectares) and Halim Perdanakusuma in East Jakarta (3.5 hectares).
Peni said her office would propose the governor issue decrees stipulating the remaining 115 hectares be designated forests. The decrees would be needed to prevent the areas being used for commercial or other purposes.
The areas are located in the PT Jakarta Industrial Estate in East Jakarta, the Pluit dam in North Jakarta, Ragunan Zoo in South Jakarta, Blok P in South Jakarta, Cibubur in East Jakarta, National Military Headquarters in Cilangkap, East Jakarta, Special Army Forces in Cijantung in East Jakarta, Manggala Wanabakti in Central Jakarta and Gelora Bung Karno or Senayan Stadium in Central Jakarta.
Environmental activists say that Jakarta should comprise 30 percent green space, including forests, to keep the capital in ecological balance.