New trade center to rise in Senayan
New trade center to rise in Senayan
Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Another commercial center will soon be constructed on the 40,000-
square-meter area of land, originally allocated as a green area
and for sporting facilities under the Bung Karno Sport Complex
Management (BP GBK), in Senayan, Central Jakarta.
Senayan City -- the name of the project -- will be used for
various commercial purposes and include a shopping mall,
apartments, office blocks and entertainment centers.
Head of the City Spatial Agency Nurfakhih Wirawan confirmed
that his office had approved the project as the land had been
designated for commercial purposes by the sports complex
management some time ago.
"It is an old project, that was delayed due to the economic
crisis of 1997. I have only approved the redesign of the
project," Nurfakhih told The Jakarta Post at the City Hall on
Tuesday.
Separately, head of the Building Assessment and Supervision
Agency Djumhana Tjakrawirja, admitted that the proposal for the
project's redesign had been submitted to his office.
Djumhana also said that, in principle, his agency agreed with
the proposal, adding that the project would commence this year.
Both Djumhana and Nurfakhih refused to mention the name of the
project developer.
Senayan City, to be located on the corner of Jl. Asia Afrika
and Jl. Hang Lekir I, in front of Plaza Senayan, would join other
controversial constructions in the area, including Plaza Senayan,
Hotel Mulia, Century Park hotel, Senayan Trade Center, Central
Senayan and Taman Ria Senayan.
The latest data indicates that commercial properties occupy
some 74.74 hectares of the total 279 hectares of land controlled
by the complex management.
According to BP GBK director for general affairs RHJ Suharto,
the management received only Rp 15 billion (US$1.76 million) a
year from the development, operation and transfer (BOT) of the
74.74 hectares land, which was very low compared to the price of
land in the area, at around Rp 10 million per square meter.
Suharto said that BP GBK had been renting the land to private
companies since 1984, when the government no longer allocated
funds to the sports complex.
"The result of this cooperation with private companies enables
the maintenance of the existing sports venues and the development
of new facilities," he argued.
Meanwhile, commercial spaces in the planned Senayan City have
been marketed since June of last year.
Environmentalists earlier expressed concern over the
conversion of the land from a green space, functioning as the
lungs of the city, to a commercial area.
The continuing conversion of Senayan land (for commercial
purposes) is contrary to plans to increase the city's green areas
from less than 10 percent of Jakarta's 765-square-kilometers to
some 13.94 percent.
According to chairman of the Environment Task Force (ETF)
Ahmad Syafrudin, the ideal percentage allocated to green areas in
the city is around 30 percent.
He said, based on the 1985-2005 city master plan, the land
still functions as a green area and for sporting facilities.
But, in the 2010 city master plan, part of the land has been
converted from green area into red area, meaning that it can be
used as a business center.