Small businesses to have space at Satrio project

JAKARTA (JP): Governor Surjadi Soedirdja guaranteed yesterday that the city administration would ensure small-scale businesses would be accommodated in the international tourism and shopping belt on Jl. Satrio in Central Jakarta.

The Rp 10 trillion (US$3.7 billion) project along the 1.8- kilometer street was expected to boost the city's image as a shopping and tourism destination while not excluding small-scale businesses such as street vendors, he said.

"Any plans, of course, have their own impacts but don't let small problems affect a good plan," said Surjadi after opening a one-day seminar on promoting Jakarta as a tourism and shopping destination at the World Trade Center.

The governor said the administration fully supported the plan as it would boost the city's development and provide opportunities for private investors to expand their businesses.

It had prepared various regulations to facilitate the project's construction, such as simplifying procedures for investors to obtain permits.

"Private investors should not hesitate to take this opportunity,"

The governor is scheduled to launch the project, covering an area of 100 hectares, on Sunday along with the grand opening of the Citra Regency Apartment.

Nine private investors have thus far committed themselves to participating in the project, which was presented to the governor in November last year.

The investors are Ciputra Group, Metropolitan Group, Sinar Mas Group, PSP Group, Mega Kuningan, Bentala (Danamon) Group, Jan Darmadi Corporation, HAKA and Asiatic Group.

Ciputra Group will build two shopping centers, one of which is currently under construction, four hotels -- two of which are already being built -- three office towers and an apartment block, which has been completed.

Mega Kuningan is the other investor to have finished its project, a diplomatic center that will house several embassies.

Once the Satrio project is completed, it will consist of five shopping centers, 10 hotels, convention and exhibition centers, restaurants, apartments, office buildings, indoor and outdoor recreation centers, sidewalk cafes, information centers for local and foreign tourists and art galleries. .

Ciputra Group president director Ciputra said the project would not affect businesses at either Tanah Abang market in Central Jakarta or the Mangga Dua shopping center in West Jakarta.

"I'm sure those markets won't be affected by this project because both are already widely known, even to buyers from overseas," Ciputra said.

According to the plan, the main feature of the project will be its friendly environment for pedestrians.

Mohammad Danisworo, the head of the city's architecture team, said that once the project was completed, which was estimated at between 10 and 20 years, pedestrians would be well-protected from both the rain and the heat.

"All buildings have been advised to set up arcades at least three meters wide for pedestrians, so they won't be affected by the rain," said Danisworo, the chairman of the Bandung Institute of Technology's Center for Urban Design Studies.

He said the sidewalks along the road would be 15.5 meters wide with two rows of trees to act as canopies protect pedestrians from unfriendly weather.

Danisworo said the Satrio project was a combination of several world-renowned roads, such as Orchard Road in Singapore, The Ramblas in Barcelona, Spain, the Champs-Ellysees in Paris, France and The Bund in Shanghai, China.

"We hope that the commercial strip of Jl. Prof. Satrio will also be a sociocultural center for people from all walks of life," Danisworo said. (ste)