'No permit, no tunnel!' says Bang Yos
Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
"No permit, no tunnel," said Governor Sutiyoso on Tuesday, thereby terminating the construction of a new, additional underground corridor that would have connected the Jakarta Hilton International Hotel and the near-by Jakarta Convention Center.
City Building Supervision Agency head Djumhana explained that his office had already rejected the proposal submitted by developer PT Indobuilco on Dec. 10 to construct a 210-meter long, eight-meter wide tunnel.
The planned tunnel would have run parallel with an existing one that was constructed to facilitate movement of participants in a Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit held in the early 1990s.
"We only allowed the developer to renovate the existing tunnel ... but they had already begun construction work without a permit. We stopped the project today," Djumhana told assembled media after meeting with the Governor.
The State Secretary, Yusril Ihza Mahendra, wrote to Sutiyoso on Nov. 29 requesting a permit to renovate the existing tunnel as part of preparations for the Asia-Africa Conference in April. The event will be held in the convention center, while the participants will be staying at the hotel.
The existing tunnel, also measuring 210-meters long and eight- meters wide, is located under the parking lot in the eastern part of the Bung Karno Sport Complex.
It was used to transport participants at the previous NAM summit, mostly state leaders, from the Hilton Hotel to the convention center.
According to Djumhana, the governor did not permit the construction of the new tunnel because the developer did not provide a detailed plan of the project, or an environmental assessment.
"The Governor does not see the urgency of constructing a new tunnel. The existing one is adequate to accommodate the participants of the Asia-Africa Conference," he added.
Indonesia hosted the first Asia-Africa Conference in Bandung, West Java, in 1955. The meeting was attended by leaders from Asian and African countries and is generally believed to have motivated many nations to break free from colonialism.