Mayor wants Flora Park to remain a free public area

The Surabaya municipal administration has asked PT Inti Surya Permata, which manages the city's Flora Park, to leave it as a free green public facility.

Mayor Bambang Dwi Hartono said recently most visitors to the botanical garden, located on Jl. Bratang Gede, were from the low- to middle-income brackets.

They visit the garden with their families to enjoy the park's wide variety of plants, flowers and animals, he said.

"Let them enjoy the park free of charge. Besides having fun there, children also can use the park as a place to study," the mayor said.

The Surabaya administration had previously lost a legal challenge to Inti Surya Permata at the Supreme Court in a dispute over the right to manage the 3.3-hectare park.

The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the private company, but granted the park's ownership rights to the municipality.

Previously, the Surabaya District Court had accepted the administration's demands for the company to keep the Flora Park a green space in the city, which is home to 3 million people.

The district court also agreed that urban residents of the densely populated city were in need of green spaces for leisure.

Inti Surya Permata president director Henry J. Gunawan has said he would keep the park as a botanical garden, but added there was no guarantee it would remain a free public area.

He said the company would need to work out the cost of managing the park, before any decision could be made.

"If the cost is too high, we can no longer make it a free park. We may have to charge people to enter the park, but only so we can cover our overhead," he said. Henry added his company would improve the park and manage it professionally, as well as add new facilities for park visitors.

The park's garden now boasts a wide variety of plants and flowers. It is also home to deer donated by the Dr. Soetomo General Hospital and features free Wifi access in certain areas.