Sutiyoso to make Monas park green

JAKARTA (JP): Governor Sutiyoso pledged yesterday to reorganize the National Monument (Monas) park in Central Jakarta and make it a green area, as stated in the city plan.

"It was wrong to build a gas station in a green area. I'm shocked. So I intend to convert the area into a city park as it was intended to be," Sutiyoso said at his first meeting with Central Jakarta mayoralty officials yesterday.

The governor made the remarks in response to the controversial gas station built in the southwestern part of the Monas park.

"The bottom line is I will not allow anything to be built within the Monas area," he said. "If there is such a building, it will only be temporary."

Sutiyoso was scheduled to inaugurate the gas station on Oct. 27.

"But there's no way I will inaugurate it without a clear explanation about this issue," he said, adding that he was currently discussing the matter with his subordinates.

The governor, who has just entered the second week of his job, said the controversial gas station issue should stand as an expensive lesson for city officials.

"Never be tempted by lucrative offers from contractors, who just think about money. They don't think about the city's environmental future."

Presidential Decree No.25/1995 states that the Monas area must be reorganized as an integrated green area, a city official, who did not want to be named, told City Hall reporters on Monday.

"So the development of a gas station in Monas is violating the land use of Monas."

He said the decree also requires the area within and around the Monas park to be preserved as a significant historical site.

And all developments must be coordinated through the Special Commission for Development Supervision in the Monas Area and the Monas Area Development Board, according to the decree.

The special commission's members consist of six ministers and the Jakarta governor, while the governor heads the board, which also has municipality officials as its members.

City officials in charge of the development of the gas station, which was jointly built by PT Otogas Karya Pratama and the municipality, refused to comment.

Amarullah Asbah, the head of the City Council's Commission C for financial affairs said the construction of the gas station reflected badly on the municipality.

"If the city needs a gas station to meet demands, why should it be built in the Monas park? There are a lot of open areas that could have been used for it," he said.

For instance, Jati Baru, in Central Jakarta, is a perfect place to build a gas station because the city's main agencies are located there, he said.

"I think the municipality should review the existence of the gas station at Monas. The city must be consistent in applying its rules. If Monas is designated a green area, why build a station or parking lot there?"

Representatives of Otogas Karya Pratama were unavailable for comment.

But councilor Lukman Mokoginta, the head of the Indonesian Democratic Party faction in the City Council, said: "Actually, the program to build a gas station as part of the city's clean air program is good. But don't take advantage of the situation by building one in a green area." (07/05)