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Ahok to visit sea wall, Gangnam in South Korea
Deputy Governor Basuki âAhokâ Tjahaja Purnama said that he would make the most of his trip to South Korea this weekend by visiting and learning from several sights deemed relevant to the development of Jakarta
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eputy Governor Basuki 'Ahok' Tjahaja Purnama said that he would make the most of his trip to South Korea this weekend by visiting and learning from several sights deemed relevant to the development of Jakarta.
Ahok is slated to leave Jakarta on Thursday night for Incheon, South Korea, to attend the opening of the 2014 Asian Games. Jakarta will be the host of the 2018 Asian Games, with Palembang, South Sumatra, acting as cohost of the multi-sport event.
The 2014 Asian Games will start Friday and end Oct. 4 in Incheon.
'I will have one day before the opening ceremony, so I have told the RI ambassador in Seoul [John A. Prasetio] that I want to visit several places to study several things, like the sea wall,' he told reporters.
The central government and the city administration plan to build a giant sea wall off the capital's north coast to prevent the area from floods. In line with the plan, the city will go ahead with its land-reclamation project.
Ahok has hinted that the land-reclamation project would not only be for commercial purposes.
'It has been said that without food expansion, famine will be a threat by 2045. South Korea and Japan have thought about this and they have allocated several pieces of land from reclamation projects for agriculture. I want to check out the one in Korea during my visit this weekend,' he said.
The deputy governor, however, has yet to iron out particulars, such as what ratio of the reclaimed land might be used for agriculture.
'I haven't thought about the details yet, that's why I want to check out the one in Korea. But for example, 40 percent of the land should be dedicated to public facilities. I'm thinking 5 percent of [the total] should be allocated for agriculture,' he said.
Ahok is also keen to study street-vendors management in Seoul.
'I want to visit the Gangnam district [in Seoul] to check out the street vendors and the creative industry,' he said.
Ahok is in the preliminary stages of establishing a new system for managing thousands of street vendors in Jakarta. Ahok has said would become the new 'Godfather' for the vendors, replacing the organized thugs who currently procure taxes from vendors throughout the city.
Under the new program, Ahok hopes to discontinue the practice by giving the vendors ATM cards that also function as a street vendor ID card. Cardholders would then pay security and sanitation fees to the city admi-
nistration rather than to the organized thugs.
' Sita W. Dewi
