Adisti Sukma Sawitri, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The House of Representatives working committee deliberating the revision of the law on the capital city has turned down the city administration's proposal to acquire and solely manage a number of strategic locations in Jakarta that are now under the authority of the central government.
Members of the working group said they were concerned the administration would convert the green areas into commercial premises.
The administration had hoped to acquire Senayan in South Jakarta, Kemayoran in Central Jakarta and Taman Mini Indonesia Indah in East Jakarta.
The central government has also rejected the proposal, saying local authority development plans could well be the end of the green areas there.
""We can't take the word of the city (administration) because in so many cases it has shown it prefers money to preserving green space,"" said legislator Cheppy T. Wartono, after a meeting with Governor Sutiyoso on Jl. Medan Merdeka Selatan, Central Jakarta.
The committee and the central government have, however, suggested the city administration and the government jointly manage more than 100 hectares of land in Kemayoran, 80 hectares in Senayan and some 120 hectares at Taman Mini.
The administration has often been quick to make designated green space available to developers to build suburban-style amenities, such as shopping malls and parking lots.
Despite the administration's plan to make 13.94 percent or 9,544 hectares of city land green by 2010, hundreds of trees have been cut down to make way for the ongoing busway and monorail projects and the planned widening of Jl. Sudirman and Jl. Thamrin, South Jakarta.
Two months ago, Sutiyoso was reported to city police in relation to the road widening project.
Early in 2000, the administration allowed buildings and a gas station to be built under the Semanggi Cloverleaf in South Jakarta, one of the city's most prominent green areas.
The city now has 5,911 hectares of green space, or 9 percent of its total land area.
City secretary Ritola Tasmaya quickly countered suspicions that the administration was not committed to increasing the number of green areas in the city and improving outdoor recreation.
He said the administration intended to make Senayan, Kemayoran and Taman Mini city forests, to meet its green space target.
""It would be cheaper for us to acquire those locations since they are state land. Buying hundreds of hectares of land would cost us billions of rupiah,"" he said.
He said he could not imagine anyone taking better care of the city than the Sutiyoso administration.
Although an agreement has yet to be reached, he urged the House to finish deliberating the revision of the law soon, so the new management of the three areas could be stated in the Jakarta Spatial Plan 2007-2017.
The administration is planning to submit the plan to the City Council in February next year for discussion and approval.
