Pasar Festival sees drop in visitors
Leony Aurora, Jakarta
Tenants in Pasar Festival, a shopping center connected to the Soemantri Brodjonegoro sports complex in Kuningan, South Jakarta, have had to endure a drop in the number of visitors since Carrefour hypermarket moved out in February.
When The Jakarta Post visited the mall on Monday, most of the business occurred for a short time during the lunch hour, when employees from numerous offices in the area turned up for a bite to eat at the food court.
"My shop's monthly turnover has plunged by 50 percent to 70 percent (since Carrefour's city-mandated departure)," lamented one tenant, who preferred to remain anonymous.
Even though the management has begun a sales promotion -- a mallwide 20 percent discount from May to October -- she and her business partner still have to draw from their own wallets to cover operating costs.
One employee at a newsstand, which has outlets in many malls in the capital, said the shop had seen a 30-percent drop in sales.
Tenants question the future use of the space vacated by Carrefour, saying there has been little communication from the management.
Soemantri Brodjonegoro sports arena, along with Pasar Festival, is managed by Bakrie Swasakti Utama (BSU) under an agreement with the Jakarta administration.
The Jakarta Youth and Sports Agency's infrastructure division head, Gumiwa, said the agency had proposed a bowling alley to occupy the space. "We are awaiting preliminary permits from the governor."
After that, the agency must find private investors to finance the construction of the bowling alley, Gumiwa added.
He explained that the space had to be used for sports purposes only.
Another official at the agency, Kartono, who supervises the sports complex, said that BSU had violated the agreement when it rented out the space -- large sections of the first and second floors -- to the French-based hypermarket.
"The hall will be converted back to a sports facility with the bowling alley," Kartono said, in reference to the second floor area that was occupied by Carrefour.
The vacant space on the first floor will have, in the future, a minimarket. The minimarket proposal had been approved, added Kartono, without specifying a time frame.
Another tenant said there had been rumors circulating about a bowling alley or a billiard hall. "But no construction has started yet," she said. "If there is no certainty soon, I will have to leave."
None of the officials at BSU were available for comment on their future plans.
The spatial use certification for Pasar Festival was granted by former Jakarta Governor Ali Sadikin, who initiated the sports complex. He visited the facility well after retiring, while Carrefour was still there, and complained that the complex looked more like a typical shopping mall than the intended sports center with ancillary shops to complement it.
The administration then decided it would not extend Carrefour's contract, which expired on Feb. 16, 2004.