Menteng has lost its classic status

The first “park town” in the country, Menteng in Central Jakarta, continues to lose its identity with only 30 percent of the old buildings remaining, as new residents have no taste for heritage preservation.

“They didn’t understand, and don’t want to understand about why we should preserve old houses,” heritage lover, Adolf Heuken said on Thursday, referring to well-off Menteng residents who build new houses with great pillars, big fences and small gardens but without cultural awareness.

The number of well-maintained old houses keeps dropping, “The area will lose its identity,” the German Catholic priest said.
Old world: The former immigration offi ce on Jl. Teuku Umar in Menteng, Central Jakarta. Built in 1913, this classic Menteng building is now the Bistro Boulevard restaurant. Many old buildings in Menteng have been torn down to make way for the construction of modern structures. JP/P.J. Leo

Menteng, the first thoroughly planned urban area in Indonesia with houses built in the Dutch Indische Woonhuizen (Indies Residence) style, has once again lost an iconic building as the well-preserved Rumah Cantik (beautiful house) on Jl. Cik Di Tiro is now half torn-down. The house was reportedly bought by Edhie Baskoro “Ibas” Yudhoyono but Ibas has denied that he bought the house.

A source involved in the sale of the house confirmed however that Ibas had been interested in purchasing the house and would “observe [visit] the house at night when it was quiet”.

The source told The Jakarta Post that although not involved personally in the final deal in mid-2010 Ibas purchased the house “through his right-hand man”.

Since the news was first published on Tuesday the source, insisting on anonymity to stay out of the controversy surrounding a member of the first family, has again spoken to the Post and confirmed his original account.

The Post has learnt that Ibas has been trying to identify the source by querying those involved in the house purchase.

The original houses in Menteng had similar styles with 45-degree angled roofs, natural materials used for the walls and with spacious gardens and open fences.

Due to the specific styles, the administration protected buildings in the area under a 1999 Bylaw on the Preservation and Utilization of Heritage Buildings. The bylaw divides historical buildings in Jakarta into three categories.

Buildings in category A are not allowed to be torn down, unless under certain conditions, and any renovation should maintain the original design. Category B buildings may be demolished internally but the main external structure must remain unchanged.

Category C allows the house to be altered and renovated but in accordance with the primary designs in the surrounding neighborhood.

“Despite the law, many category B houses have been demolished, just like several houses in this street [Jl. M. Yamin].

They were type B, but look at them now, they have been changed into modern houses,” Heuken, who is also a Menteng resident, told the Post.

He also said that many owners in the neighborhood had intentionally neglected houses in order to sell them or build new designs.

Jakarta Building Construction Supervision and Regulation Agency (P2B) head of law enforcement Agus Supriyono said that even if buildings had been damaged, the owners had to rebuild them according to the previous design.

“We have records of which buildings belong to what category and if owners want to reconstruct a house, they have to build it just like the original design, otherwise we won’t give the permission,” he said.