Museums gear up to raise money under new rules

JAKARTA (JP): A new rule on museums is expected to make them better equipped to raise money and attract visitors.

The regulation on the City Museum and Restoration Agency gives city-owned museums the authority to manage their own activities, the head of the agency, Haswidi A. Taufik, said yesterday.

Previously museums were dependent on the City's Museum and History agency to arrange programs and cooperation with outside parties.

As a result it was hard to improve the image of museums, which where thought of as dreary places to keep antiques, Haswidi said.

"At the moment, museums are not able to attract many people," he said at City Council.

Under the new regulation passed yesterday, the agency's name was changed to the City Museum and Restoration Agency.

The city has 52 museums, of which seven are under the municipality. These are the National Museum, the Jakarta History Museum, the Puppet Museum, the Fine Arts and Ceramics Museum, the Textile Museum, the Armed Forces Museum and the Maritime Museum.

Councilor Neneng Amalia D of the Indonesian Democratic Party faction lamented the lack of maintenance in museum collections and poor service to visitors, besides the lack of visitors.

"The number of visitors to the seven museums declined sharply, from 209,809 visitors in 1992 to only 96,969 visitors in 1996," Neneng said.

She cited the agency's records in which 3,931 items from a collection of 48,190 items in the seven museums were in bad condition.

The head of the Jakarta History Museum, S.J.H. Damais, said museums were also to blame for the lack of promotion, which led to few visitors.

He said his museum expected to improve its performance soon after the enforcement of the new regulation.

"Under the new regulation, we are allowed to determine our own programs, form partnerships with other foundations, create attractive activities and set our own budget," Damais said.

He said museums here could be as attractive as in other countries, where people could relax and have lunch while enjoying the museum's displays.

Souvenirs, coffee shops and a better layout would be part of improvements and additions, Damais said.

He said entrance fees would have to be increased from the current fee of Rp 1,000 (41 US cents), but declined to say by how much.

He only said the current fee was too low compared with recreation spots like Dunia Fantasi which charges at least Rp 10,000 per person.

Haswidi said plans to raise funds by working with foundations and companies were being drawn up and were expected to be completed this year. Plans to improve museums also include expanding all of them, he said.

Haswidi's office is also in charge of 132 cultural preservation areas, which include Onrust Island in the Seribu Islands, North Jakarta.

Yesterday he said the agency would propose that Onrust be declared an archeological park, to preserve the site of the fortress built under Dutch rule.

After studies were completed, the results would be reported to the governor, he said. (ste)