The Government backs efforts to revitalise cultural heritage in Depok City

The government backs efforts to revitalise cultural heritage across various regions, including Depok City, and underscores the importance of strengthening intangible cultural heritage and planning the development of cultural heritage in a targeted manner. ‘We support all efforts to revitalise cultural heritage in various cities. There is a need to accelerate registration and verification of cultural heritage so that it can be designated as national cultural heritage,’ the Culture Minister said in a statement received in Jakarta on Thursday. The Ministry also encouraged accelerating the preparation of a comprehensive development plan for cultural heritage, including historic buildings, museums, and other supporting facilities, as he said at a meeting with the Depok City Government together with the Cultural Heritage Expert Team and cultural communities to discuss the preservation of Depok City’s cultural heritage, particularly the Depok Lama historic area. In this area there is also a seven-hectare area of the Taman Hutan Raya that forms part of the Depok Lama historic landscape, including the building known as the Rumah Presiden Depok. The Depok City Government conveyed various initiatives for preserving the city’s culture and history, including the plan to repurpose historic buildings in the Depok Lama area. The Depok Mayor, Supian Suri, expressed hope that the support from the Ministry of Culture can help realise the revitalisation of the Depok Lama area so that it can once again become a centre of cultural activities as well as a destination for historical and cultural tourism. ‘The Depok Lama area contains various historic sites and we want those spaces to be used today and in the future,’ he said. In Depok City there is still the Depok Community consisting of twelve lineages of Dutch descent that form an important part of the social history of Depok, in addition, Depok also has the Lebaran Depok festival as an annual cultural activity that is hoped to develop into a national agenda.