Pasar Festival sees drop in visitors
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.