Over half of city parks misappropriated: Official

JAKARTA (JP): Over half of the capital's parks have been misappropriated and converted into trading sites, an official said on Tuesday.

Misappropriation of the city's parks has been going on since the economic crisis hit the country in 1997.

"Street vendors flock to the parks and use them for their trading sites," City Parks Agency deputy chief Susanto told City Council Commission D on Development Affairs in a hearing at City Hall.

"Vendors continue occupying the parks because most of them are situated in strategic locations," he said.

Data for 1996 which was presented by the agency showed that there were 529 parks in the city, covering a total area of 177.29 square kilometers. The data showed that 302 locations had already been converted to cater for various purposes, such as street trading sites, fuel stations, police posts and community centers.

The agency recorded that there are currently 32 fuel stations occupying a total of 55,200 square meters of the city's parks.

Susanto said the agency had initially succeeded in reducing the number of misappropriated parks to 202, but that figure increased to 272 having a total area of 149.68 hectares with the outbreak of the economic crisis.

"As for the fuel stations, there is nothing else we can do, other than to wait until their operating licenses expire," he said.

Susanto explained that the agency was now planning to reconvert nine misappropriated locations, with a total area of 10,000 square meters, back into parks this year. "The project will cost Rp 605 million (US$74,691)."

Separately, Yani Poerwidiana, a member of the agency's program division staff, said the agency could only restore 10 of the misappropriated parks annually, due to its limited budget.

Susanto said the agency found it difficult to restore the city parks to their original functions as some of the buildings on the misappropriated sites were needed by the community for the holding of functions and for use as security posts.

"The agency therefore needs to find other sites to serve as replacements," he added.

He regretted the failure of the people and officials to secure permission from the agency to develop the parks into police posts and community centers.

"They just settled on the parks as a solution to their problems," Susanto said, while citing that some residents even used parks for dumping trash.

"We want to inform the public that the parks do not only function as green areas for the city, but also as places for social interaction," he said.

He expressed hope that the commission would help the agency monitor the use of city parks, by placing the issue on the council's agenda. (lup)