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.