Semanggi to become Jakarta's green symbol

JAKARTA (JP): Governor Sutiyoso outlined his vision yesterday of developing Semanggi cloverleaf, one of the city's landmarks, as a symbol for the greening of Jakarta.

Sutiyoso met the city's five mayors and other officials yesterday to promote his vision of a green city.

The head of the city parks agency, Syamsir Alam, told reporters after the meeting that the governor wanted Semanggi to be planted with large trees, grass and flowers.

He said Semanggi had been chosen "because the site can easily be seen by many people".

Sutiyoso instructed city officials yesterday to start work on Semanggi as a pilot project, he said.

He said Sutiyoso also urged officials to plant large trees along Jl. Thamrin and Jl. Jendral Sudirman, which passes through the Semanggi cloverleaf.

Syamsir said the city faced a hurdle in that there was no industry for transplanting large trees.

"That's why the municipality has invited businesspeople to get involved in the greening-movement project."

He said that at yesterday's meeting the governor asked the mayors to support the movement and encourage residents in their areas to plant trees.

Syamsir said the goal of the project was make 30 percent of the capital's 65,000 hectares green areas.

However, Syamsir once said Jakarta could only afford to spare 15 percent of its total area for trees because reverting residential areas into parks would cost too much.

Jakarta's parks have dwindled to 5 percent, or 3,250 hectares, of the city's land, he said.

Syamsir said yesterday that since taking office the governor had frequently urged people to plant trees on their properties.

By last year, Jakarta claimed to have planted 3.47 million trees, exceeding the three million target. (ind)