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View all search resultsNot many people are aware that the Lokasari commercial district in Mangga Besar, West Jakarta, used to be a public recreation area run by the city administration
ot many people are aware that the Lokasari commercial district in Mangga Besar, West Jakarta, used to be a public recreation area run by the city administration.
Now notorious for the rampant illegal prostitution in the area, the 5-hectare site used to have an entertainment park that hosted open-air theater performances, such as traditional dances, and supported an array of vendors selling traditional food.
Established in 1913 by Chinese businessman Tan Hien Hien, who named it Prinsen Park, the site ' which also had a sports field, events hall and a dance school ' was popular until the 1960s.
Officially renamed the Lokasari People's Entertainment Park, the administration renovated the site in 1985 to bring it up to speed with other rapidly developing modern entertainment venues in the city.
Under a shared management scheme with private company PT Gemini Sinar Perkasa (GSP), Lokasari became a popular nightlife hub.
The slew of discotheques, nightclubs, billiard halls and karaoke lounges, however, didn't translate into big revenue. The body managing the park, BP THR Lokasari, contributed less than Rp 500 million to the city's annual local revenue ' the lowest amount among all city-owned enterprises.
The administration of Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo recently unveiled a plan to remove suspected prostitution businesses from the park and to transfer its management to other enterprises, one of which will develop an apartment complex in the area.
Raya Siahaan, head of BP THR Lokasari, told The Jakarta Post recently that the city administration would seek to gain revenue from operating buildings that were constructed by GSP, which included a sports hall, a subdistrict office, a fire department office, street vendor kiosks, a shopping mall and a parking building.
He said that BP THR Lokasari owned 24,251 square meters of land in the area (44.5 percent of the total area); the GSP had 5,219 square meters (9.6 percent), having earlier transferred the right to use 9,925 square meters of land it owned (18.25 percent) to third parties; and PT Tenang Jaya had 15,000 square meters of vacant land.
Raya said that despite its space, his enterprise could not increase revenue for the city because it only generated profit from parking spaces and renting shop space.
'I suggested that the city government buy the 1.5-hectare vacant lot in this area, owned by PT Tenang Jaya, and build an apartment tower there to increase profits,' Raya said. (ian)
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