Open, green space continues to shrink

Open, green space continues to shrink

JAKARTA: Environmentalist Ahmad "Puput" Safrudin blasted the
Jakarta administration's policy to allow aggressive conversion of
open and green space in the city into building premises, citing
that the disappearance of the space contributed to the worsening
air quality in the city.

Puput said on Monday in a hearing with City Council Commission
D for development affairs that the administration halved the
required space for open and green areas to only 13.9 percent out
of the city's total area of 650 square kilometers by 2010. In
1999 there was between 26.5 percent and 31.5 percent, as in line
with obsolete Bylaw No. 5/1984.

Another environmentalist Ari Muhammad said ideally the city
should be at least 25 percent green space to curb air pollution.
-- JP.