Tower waste of money

"Your Letters" of Sept. 18, 1995 touched on three matters of great importance -- traffic problems, air pollution and one other. On the first two I have contributed a number of letters over the years, but since their message never reaches the powers that be, it seems pointless to add to the letters from other readers on these matters.

But the other matter is the one raised by Synka A. Tarigan Highest tower in Kemayoran (The Jakarta Post, Sept. 18, 1995). I am wholly in support of his views, for this is something that has been going around in my mind for some time. First of all, the highest tower in Southeast Asia is in Kuala Lumpur, so we must build a taller one to be one up on our Malaysian neighbors.

No, the real point is the one that Tarigan made: If this monstrosity is erected, what a waste of money that should far better be directed to improving the lot of the poor people of the world, of whom there are maybe 50 million in this country. Would it not be far better to spend the project cost of this tower (US$400 million) on schools, medical services, improved water, electricity and other facilities?

We can learn many salutary lessons from history -- in this particular instance from French history -- because history has a way of repeating itself. Most readers will be aware of the fateful words of Queen Marie-Antoinette of France who, when told that the peasants had no bread and were starving, exclaimed, "Well, let them eat cake!" Those words seem to epitomize the attitude of those who squander untold millions of dollars on building hideous, monolithic glass and concrete structures, and whose Mercedes, BMWs and other luxury cars proliferate on Jakarta's streets, thereby creating confusion worse confounded, caring nothing for the lot of their less fortunate brothers and sisters.

JAMES RICHARDS

Jakarta