T

o gear up for the renovation of historical site Kota Tua (Old Town) in West Jakarta, the city administration and a number of stakeholders, have officially launched a consortium of state and private entities as well as a cultural group.

The consortium and the group, which were launched on Tuesday, will focus on the development of infrastructure and the conservation of culture, respectively.

Capital market analyst Lin Che Wei, who chairs the consortium, said in the launch ceremony that the consortium was targeting to complete the infrastructure development project in five years.

The consortium, called the Jakarta Old Town Revitalization Corp (JOTRC), currently groups 11 companies, including equity company Saratoga Capital, conglomerate Central Cipta Murdaya Group and property companies PT Jababeka, PT Agung Podomoro Group, PT Agung Sedayu Group, PT Intiland and PT Plaza Indonesia Realty.

Lin explained that under the project, the consortium would restore the functions of 85 historical buildings at the cost of trillions of rupiah.

For infrastructure development, JOTRC had collected Rp 100 billion from its members and would find more funds from various sources, he said.

'€œAfter the completion of the project, about 11,400 new jobs will be created and 190 artists will be able to perform at Kota Tua annually,'€ he said, adding each US dollar spent for the project would attract an additional investment of US$2 for related business activities.

He said in the short term, the consortium would complete the face-lift of Fatahilah square and the Pos Indonesia building, both in Kota Tua, by March next year.

The completion of the face-lift would be marked with a huge fine art exhibition and a culinary festival, he said.

Jakarta Tourism Agency head Arie Budhiman, who is one of the JOTRC advisory board members representing the city administration, told The Jakarta Post that for the revitalization of Kota Tua, the city administration would take part in the project by providing spatial planning and the development of public facilities.

Prolific writer Goenawan Mohamad, who chairs the advisory board of the cultural group called the Jakarta Endowment for Art and Heritage (Jeforah), said the group would ensure the historical buildings in Kota Tua would have soul.

'€œWe plan to organize regular and continuous art performances at Kota Tua after the completion of the project,'€ he said.

For the celebration of the completion of the Kota Tua face-lift next March, the group would invite at least 70 artists to perform, he said.

According to Lin, JOTRC members have allocated Rp 5 billion for cultural conservation, including the facilitation of art performances.

Arie said the establishment of JOTRC and Jeforah was expected to promote the tourism industry in Jakarta as Kota Tua was a main tourist destination in the city.

He said his agency thus far was targeting the arrival of 2.3 million tourists in the city next year, reflecting a 9.5 percent increase on this year'€™s target of 2.1 million. (koi)