Residents want cheap recreational areas

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)