Jakarta building managements to renovate parking lots

Mustaqim Adamrah ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Sat, 02/16/2008 12:42 PM  |  Headlines

The management of Central Jakarta's Plaza Semanggi confirmed Friday it would adhere to a city agency's 2007 regulation after its parking building was declared unsafe.

Plaza Semanggi board of management director Andreas Kartawinata said the management was engaging with structural consultancy firms for a planned renovation of the plaza's parking building.

"We agree with the city property management and control agency that parking buildings must be safe," he said at a press conference.

"Therefore, we're hiring consultancy firms recommended by the agency to design a new parking building in compliance with its new regulation," he said.

Andreas, who is also the chairman of the Indonesian Shopping Center Management Association's Jakarta chapter, said a previous consultancy had suggested the existing design in adherence to effective regulations at that time.

"We do use steel and concrete in our parking building construction. Perhaps its dimensions do not match the new regulation," he said.

He also said the management would renovate the four-year-old parking building as soon as the design was submitted next week and was approved by an agency-appointed, independent team.

The management would not close the building during the renovation period, he said.

The renovation plan emerged after the plaza's management received a warning from the agency, which found eight parking buildings -- out of 22 the agency had surveyed from Jan. 25 to 30 -- were unsafe, including Plaza Semanggi's.

Parking building inspections are being carried out after a number of fatal accidents at parking buildings, including two at Permata Hijau International Trade Center and one at the Menara Jamsostek building, both in South Jakarta.

The other parking buildings the agency found unsafe include those at Senayan City and Pasaraya Grande, as well as Cempaka Mas International Trade Center, Menteng Prada apartment, Jakarta Realty and Senen traditional market, all in Central Jakarta.

Mangga Dua International Trade Center's parking building in North Jakarta is also among the eight unsafe parking buildings.

The agency's head Hari Sasongko said the buildings that were found unsafe had failed to meet minimum safety requirements set in the 2007 regulation on building structures and geotechnology planning.

The regulation says walls in parking buildings must be strong enough to withstand collisions.

Hari said the agency had sent warning letters to the managements of the eight buildings and ordered them to renovate them.

"The managements of the eight unsafe buildings and others who also have parking buildings have expressed their willingnes to renovate their parking buildings since we issued the warning," he said.

The agency, he said, gave the eight managements one month to design a new parking building and renovate them afterwards, or have their parking buildings closed down indefinitely.

However, the managements would not be required to temporarily close their parking buildings during a renovation period, "unless an accident occurs," said Hari.

Copyright © 2008 The Jakarta Post - PT Bina Media Tenggara. All Rights Reserved.