Regreening what?

Regreening what?

The "unplanned" felling of trees along Jl. Jend. Sudirman in Jakarta has come as yet another shock to those who believe that this polluted city needs more trees.

Worse, the decision to cut the trees was apparently made after the administration admitted that the sacrificing of fast lanes to make space for the special busway lanes has left some of Jakarta's busiest thoroughfares too narrow to accommodate traffic.

From the beginning, the busway project has evoked strong criticism from many. However, unrelenting city officials have demonstrated their ignorance of the situation and turned a deaf ear to critics.

It was earlier stated that the lanes that were reduced in width due to the construction of the busway lane needed to be widened. Yet the head of the Jakarta Park Agency, Sarwo Handayani, promised that not a single tree would be sacrificed.

"Ten trees will be planted to replace any single tree cut for the road widening project," she was quoted by local media as saying.

Now that at least 10 trees have been felled, Handayani and other officials should explain whether 100 new trees will indeed be planted in their place, and where they will be planted.

In this case, however, Handayani has shown herself to be a person who prefers political rhetoric to one who does something beneficial for the populace. Such officials have apparently worked hard at developing Jakarta according to their own vision and perception.

Let's go back to the City Regreening Drive in 1970, which was meant to partially deal with environmental problems. Five years later another similar campaign was launched, despite the absence of concrete progress in the previous drive. Similar campaigns were then launched in 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 2000 and the most recent drive, known as the Green Jakarta Program, which was launched in 2003.

This list of regreening drives is evidence enough of the failure of the administration to fulfill its commitment to make the capital city clean, green and shady.

The most blatant example of the violation of the 2000 and 2003 regreening drives launched by Governor Sutiyoso was the cutting of trees along Jl. Jend. Sudirman to make room for statues and for the TransJakarta busway project. The administration has contradicted its own policy.

It is alarming to realize that the city's experts have such little understanding of the function of trees, especially those on the median strip of thoroughfares such as Jl. Jend. Sudirman or Jl. MH Thamrin.

This, again, is evidence that there has been no consistency in the efforts made by the administration's officials to save Jakarta from further environmental disasters, such as a drop in the quantity and quality of groundwater. Air pollution will inevitably become more severe with the disappearance of more trees from the capital's streets.

It is public knowledge that many green areas and open spaces have been turned into gas stations and commercial buildings. Water catchments areas, even natural lakes, have been turned into residential housing complexes.

The spatial or zoning plan and the city's master plan for development has been altered to accommodate political or financial ends. The rise of new shopping centers across the city could be cited as clear examples.

According to experts, an individual ideally needs 7.81 square meters of open space to get clean air. What Jakarta residents have experienced is that the city has grown more and more dense and the air more and more polluted. Jakarta is often cited as one of the most polluted cities in the world. Unfortunately, the city administration has failed to eliminate the scourge.

Flooding is posing a lingering problem, without serious efforts being made by officials to overcome it. The reclamation project of North Jakarta's coastal area is further proof of the administration's lack of awareness of the danger of flooding.

Months before the rainy season started, an official told reporters that thousands of city administration staffers, a number of life savers and helicopters would be made available in the case of flooding.

But what happened? During the recent floods, the public has learned that even the early warning system for flooding was a failure.

Jakarta needs more trees, more open spaces, more mangrove forests. And also, Jakarta needs managers with vision who are capable of developing the nation's capital in an integrated and consistent manner, with a proper environmental approach.