(Kompas.com/Aldo Fenalosa)

The major parts of City Hall looked quiet on Saturday about 1 p.m. although it was open to the public over the weekend since Sept. 12. Only a few people were taking photographs in front of rooms that were open to visitors.

There are eight rooms that are open to the public on Saturday and Sunday since Jakarta Governor Basuki '€œAhok'€ Tjahaja Purnama introduced the City Hall Tourism Program. '€œDuring these hours, the visitors attend the movie,'€ said an officer on duty on Saturday.

Balai Agung (the Great Hall), where the movie is shown, is one of the eight rooms. The other rooms are transit rooms for guests, guest rooms, a photo gallery of the Jakarta governors, an audience hall, a land acquisition hall and two leadership meeting rooms.

Dozens of families fill the seats at the audience hall named Balai Agung that has a seating capacity of 300 seats, while most of the film spectators were school-aged children. The film'€™s title is Si Jago Merah (The Red Rooster), telling about the work of the city fire fighters.

An official says that the film is screened once a day starting at 1 p.m.

'€œIt is alternative tourism. I now know what is inside City Hall and the programs of the city government. The children also enjoy the film,'€ said Abrar, a resident of Bandung. City Hall is just one of the tourist spots in the city he and members of his family visited while in Jakarta.

Head of City Hall'€™s Building and Park division Mart Achmad said that the City Hall Tourism organizers cooperated with 21 Cinema to screen the movie in City Hall. '€œEvery weekend, we operate one film on Saturday and Sunday,'€ said Achmad.

In the future, Achmad said, the city would also show documentary films about city administration programs.

He said the City Hall movie was only a supporting part of City Hall tourism, while the main objective was to introduce history and other elements of City Hall to the public.

Since 9 a.m. when City Hall was open to the public on Saturday, dozens of visitors, mostly students of junior and senior high schools had started to crowd City Hall grounds.

'€œI am curious about the history of City Hall. I got information about the City Hall tour from my aunty,'€ said Riska Aulia, a junior high school student from North Jakarta, as reported by beritajakarta.com. She visited City Hall together with four of her friends. (bbn)(++++)

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