Vendors at Monas to be regulated, park agency says
Vendors at Monas to be regulated, park agency says
JAKARTA (JP): Vendors at the National Monument Park (or Monas
Park) will be regulated as part of the park's renovation.
The head of the city's park agency, Syamsir Alam, said
yesterday a team consisting of personnel from various agencies,
including public order and park agencies, had been set up to make
the operation of vendors more orderly and sanitary.
"It has to be done as soon as possible, or else the park's
condition will become worse," Syamsir said, referring to waste
left by vendors and customers in the park.
The maintenance cost for the park was Rp 225 million
(US$92,213) a year, which he said was "very cheap" for the park's
80 hectares.
People going to the park need vendors, he said, but the park,
which is undergoing renovation, should be prevented from misuse,
he added.
Syamsir was speaking after the signing of detail plans of the
renovated park, to be named Taman Medan Merdeka, by Governor
Surjadi Soedirdja.
It was a follow up to President Soeharto's approval of the
concept in 1993 and the master plan drawn up in 1994.
Construction has begun through the paving of outer areas of
the square and the planting of trees. The "frame" of the park is
scheduled to be completed in 1998.
M. Danisworo, the head of the city's architectural consultant
team, said yesterday vendors, who will be organized, will occupy
the underground part of a plaza in the daytime, and will operate
on the surface at night.
The plaza, part of an overall plan to be completed in 10
years, would be an open-air space 200 meters long and 30 meters
wide shaded by trees.
The plaza will be placed along Jl. Medan Merdeka Selatan
across from City Hall, and vendors will be organized into several
groups, Danisworo said.
"If they're not organized they will pollute the place," he
said.
Near the plaza, a 5,000-seat amphitheater would face the
National Monument, which was built in 1961, for various forms of
entertainment.
An underground parking lot would accommodate 2,300 cars, he
said. Parking would no longer be allowed on the surface.
Further progress of the plans would partially depend on subway
plans, Danisworo said. Subway plans have been delayed
indefinitely pending financial proposals which would not burden
the city.
"Without the subway, underground passages (linking the subway
station, the Gambir Train Station and the park) would not really
serve any purpose," he said. Limited commercial facilities have
been planned for the underground passages.
But regardless of when the subway was built, he said, at least
people would still be attracted to the amphitheater.
The most important thing about the park, he said, was that it
remain a public place.
The park would include tree species from the country's 27
provinces, he said. He also said that the park would serve as a
medium for learning about the environment and history, as well as
learning "attitudes of living in an urban area" by enforcing park
cleanliness.
Costs of the project had increased, but Danisworo could not
give details. (anr)