Residents of the coastal area of Marunda, North Jakarta, are urging the administration to develop Marunda Beach into a high-quality tourism destination to boost the local economy.

One resident, Ami, 30, said Marunda Beach had a lot of potential to become a popular recreational area.

"I've been dreaming of enjoying an Ancol-like recreational area in Marunda Beach. Yes, I want it to be developed into something like Ancol, which is cleaner and has more facilities," Ami told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.

Jakarta, which has 23.7 kilometers of northern coastal area, has only Carnival Beach in the Ancol complex as a recreational beach. Entrance to the beach costs Rp 12,000 a person. Those with vehicles have to pay Rp 12,000 more for a car or Rp 10,000 for a motorcycle.

According to the North Jakarta municipality, only 1.7 kilometers is still owned by the administration. The rest is owned by companies, including PT Ancol Pembangunan Jaya.

"It actually has a lot of potential. Here, people can enjoy the beach, swimming and fishing as much as they like because it's free.

"Marunda also had some historical attractions, such as the 348-year-old Al Alam mosque and Rumah Si Pitung or Pitung's House (a Betawi hero during the Dutch colonial era)," she said.

She questioned whether the administration had plans to convert the beach into a recreational area.

"I heard about the plan years ago, but I still haven't seen anything happening with it," Ami said.

Another resident, Neni, 39, had a similar view.

"I hope the administration will at least clean up the beach and build rest houses, like those in Ancol, for visitors to relax. Now people just hang out in makeshift tents," she said.

An official from the North Jakarta administration, Yuliadi, said the development of the beach would take place gradually because the program could require a lot of money.

"We actually started the development in 2006, for instance repairing the roads heading to the beach. We are now also teaming up with PT Pembangunan Jaya Ancol, as part of its corporate social responsibility (CSR) program to help us realize the plan," Yuliadi said.

"We first have to reclaim some parts of the beach with soil to make it safer for visitors. It will be very costly. But I assure you it will always be a public beach and we will not hand it over to any private company."

Right now, Marunda beach does not look like any white-sand beach in Papua -- not even like the gray-sand beach in Pangandaran, West Java.

When the Post visited the beach on Saturday afternoon, the seawater looked murky, the surrounding roads were uneven and full of holes and garbage was scattered around the area.

Despite its shortcomings, residents said many tourists, mostly from outside Jakarta, visited the beach on weekends and holidays.

Development of trade and industry has changed Jakarta's coastal areas.

The areas have deteriorated over the past few years because of construction and have suffered a range of problems, including floods, tidal waves and pollution.

According to data from the Indonesian Forum for the Environment, six of the nine estuaries in Jakarta are heavily polluted and only 120 hectares of mangrove thickets remain -- out of 1,300 hectares in the 1960s.

The environmental damage has also affected fisherman and fish farmers in Marunda because it makes it hard for them to earn a living.

Many now make their living as factory workers or as ojek (motorcycle taxi) drivers.

This condition has encouraged PT Akzo Nobel Car Refinishes Indonesia to assist residents of Marunda as part of its CSR program.

The program coordinator, Juliansyah, said the company would establish a library and learning facilities for children, plant trees around the area and repair fishing boats.

"We also aim to preserve the mosque and Pitung's House, and develop traditional Betawi arts," he said.

The program will run for four months.

Popular

Govt eyes September for mass relocation of civil servants to Nusantara

Govt claims 'mudik' 2024 traffic management a success

Public hopes swell ahead of election dispute ruling