Residents want cheap recreational areas

JAKARTA (JP): City residents have voiced complaints over the limited number of inexpensive recreational sites available in the city, leaving them with few opportunities to enjoy long weekends.

Interviewed separately last week, several residents expressed hope the city administration and other related institutions would find ways to satisfy the need for recreational areas with inexpensive entrance fees.

"I get a headache every time my children ask to go somewhere during vacation. Often, I choose Taman Mini Indonesia Indah in East Jakarta or Ragunan Zoo in South Jakarta because of their relatively cheaper entrance fees, although my children have now become bored with these," Sucipto Hadi, a father of six, said recently.

The 41-year-old man said he again chose to take his wife and four of their children to Taman Mini for this long weekend, although they wanted to go to Puncak in West Java.

"I had to set aside more than Rp 100,000 even though we are just spending the holiday here (at Taman Mini). Spending the holiday at Puncak would be too luxurious for us," said the employee of a paint factory in the Tanjung Priok area of North Jakarta.

Sucipto said the city administration should offer more recreational sites for those residents who cannot afford to spend a lot of money for holidays.

For Paimin and Niram, fried banana cake vendors from Kramat Jati in East Jakarta, spending the holiday in the relatively cheap Taman Mini is still something of a luxury.

"But I just want to please my daughter who, unlike almost all of her friends, has never been to the famous park," said Niram, 22, the mother of two.

Paimin said he thought there should be parks and other recreational areas that did not charge entrance fees so people like him could enjoy their holidays.

"My daughter actually asked me to go for a picnic at Dunia Fantasi (recreational site in Ancol Dreamland Park in North Jakarta) but it would be too expensive," he said.

Jakarta is known for its lack of public spaces, leaving residents a limited number of options during holidays and weekends.

Residents often complain of having to visit the city's three most popular holiday destinations, Taman Mini, Ragunan Zoo and Ancol Dreamland Park, each holiday.

There are several public parks in the city, but the majority of them are poorly maintained and many have become notorious for prostitution and crime.

Another city resident, Arizal, said he wanted to take his family to the free public park at the National Monument (Monas) in Central Jakarta, but he thought the location was no longer suitable for a family holiday because it had become a spot for prostitution.(ind)