Parking lot for shoppers provided

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

City administration is preparing a 2.9-hectare plot of land in the Waduk Melati area, Central Jakarta, as a temporary parking lot for visitors to Tanah Abang market in order to ease the flow of traffic around the market and surrounding areas.

It is also to provide 10 shuttle buses to take visitors from the parking lot to the market, free of charge.

Governor Sutiyoso stressed that starting Monday, all cars belonging to shoppers would be prohibited from parking at the market and on side streets leading to the market.

"I do not want to see cars parked at the market and on the street, especially on Jl. KH Mas Mansyur, as they cause serious traffic problems," Sutiyoso said after visiting the parking lot on Monday.

He ordered officials at the City Transportation Agency to tow any cars parked in prohibited areas, if their owners did not heed warnings.

The 2.9-hectare land is part of a 5.3-hectare plot in Waduk Melati owned by the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) that has been leased to the administration. The temporary parking lot will be used until Tanah Abang market has been restored, while the administration will build a business center on the remaining 2.4-hectare land.

President Director Prabowo Soenirman of city-owned market operator PD Pasar Jaya said the parking lot would hold about 1,500 cars.

Prabowo said the reconstruction of Tanah Abang market would begin in early December after the Idul Fitri holiday and is expected to finish within 14 to 16 months.

About 2,400 kiosks in the market, deemed the largest textile market in Southeast Asia, were destroyed by fire in February.