Residents wary of plan to convert Blok M
Leony Aurora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The planned conversion of one of the oldest residential areas in the city -- Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta near Blok M -- into a mixed commercial/residential area has met resistance from the residents who prefer to keep it as it is or make it exclusively residential.
Monica Hana, who has lived on Jl. Erlangga, not far from the shopping center, since she was a toddler, surmised that the conversion would change the structure of the area.
"Kebayoran Baru was the first area (in Jakarta) with spatial planning and was designed as a complex with parks," she told The Jakarta Post on Friday.
"The conversion would mean even more traffic and congestion. Public buses trying to avoid the congestion of the main streets usually cut through the housing complexes with their thick black smoke," she said.
The present situation is already different from when she grew up. "Children used to be able to play in the streets, but now their freedom is very limited," said the 35-year-old woman.
The Jakarta administration has announced its plan for a major makeover of the chaotic area around Blok M in a bid to curb the ever-increasing number of businesses that have encroached upon the surrounding residential areas.
A gubernatorial decree will be issued for the Kebayoran Baru district plan. However, there is not yet clear information about which areas will be designated for business only.
Madhur Shorey, a resident of Jl. Tirtayasa, does not approve of the plan. "There'll be a lot more traffic as clients will be coming and going all the time," said the expatriate from India, who has been living there for the past seven years.
"It (the conversion) will destroy the beauty, peace and convenience. Residential areas should be separated from commercial areas."
Many houses were converted into offices, beauty salons, clinics and other enterprises when the monetary crisis hit the country in mid-1997. The administration turned a blind eye to it to allow entrepreneurs to reduce costs and save their businesses.
However, the practice has continued at a quick pace right up to the present.
"Many residents have complained about these businesses, as some stay open until late in the evening," said Monica, who is also the neighborhood unit chief.
Madhur suggested that the administration charge higher taxes on houses used as business premises.
Kebayoran Baru, which covers an area of around 730 hectares, used to be a teak forest. Its name was derived from the Indonesian word for a kind of teak tree, bayur (Pterospermum javanicum).
The district was developed in the 1950s to accommodate the growing need for housing. In the plan, the city administration cleared land to make 80,000 houses along with schools, cemeteries, three churches, four movie theaters and four mosques.