'No permit, no tunnel!' says Bang Yos
'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.