T

he city administration opened on Saturday the first child friendly public park in Thousand Islands regency, located on Untung Jawa Island, as part of its program to realize a child-friendly Jakarta.

The integrated child-friendly public space (RPTRA), called Amiterdam after the island'€™s original name, has various facilities, not just swings and a seesaw but also a library and futsal and beach volleyball fields. The park, developed by PT Pembangunan Jaya, is the fifth in Jakarta and the first in the regency.

Located on the island'€™s shore, the park is surrounded by white sands and has five small wooden pavilions and a medicinal plant and vegetable garden. Dozens of children crowded the park during the opening, including Riska Ramadhani, 7. Riska, who attends SD Untung Jawa 01 state elementary school, expressed excitement at trying out various facilities at the park.

'€œI'€™m happy because I have a place to play. I used to played in the empty field in my school,'€ she said as she played on a swing.

Riska said she would go to the park every day, not just to play but also to meet friends.

Putra, a 13-year-old student at SMP 285 state junior high school, expressed excitement over the park'€™s futsal field. As a futsal enthusiast, Putra said he rarely played the sport as the Thousand Islands regency had minimum facilities for it.

Putra, who lives on Pramuka Island, said he would travel by boat to enjoy the facilities on Untung Jawa Island.

'€œI hope the city administration develops similar parks on other islands so that everyone in a Thousand Islands can enjoy facilities like this,'€ he said.

Governor Basuki '€œAhok'€ Tjahaja Purnama said residents had been involved in planning and developing the park and must be involved in managing it.

'€œWe hope that everyone can enjoy the park, not only children but the entire community on this island,'€ Ahok said during the opening of the park, which was attended by the ambassadors of the British, Singapore, Denmark, Switzerland and the Netherlands.

Ahok vowed to build parks on other islands. He guaranteed that the park was not only enjoyable but also safe, as public order officers would guard it every day.

Ahok said the ambassadors were interested in the RPTRA concept and had offered to cooperate with Jakarta in developing the parks.

British Ambassador Moazzam Malik lauded the city administration'€™s RPTRA program and said a similar program in the UK called Sure Start had been successful.

'€œThe RPTRA is fantastic and has a lot of potential. So long as there are resources to fund the ongoing activities, it will be very successful,'€ Malik told The Jakarta Post on the sidelines of the launch.

The RPTRA project, introduced earlier this year, aims to provide a public space where the whole community of an area can gather. The city administration aims to provide at least one park in every subdistrict. The city has opened RPTRA in Gandaria Selatan in South Jakarta, Cideng in Central Jakarta, Kembangan Utara in West Jakarta and Sungai Bambu in North Jakarta. Another RPTRA in Cililitan, East Jakarta, is under construction.

The development of the RPTRA involved residents as well as University of Indonesia sociologist Imam Prasodjo, who was responsible for the social mapping of the park. Imam and his team often met residents to determine the facilities they wanted.

Ahok played a limited public role by issuing Gubernatorial Decree No. 349/2015 to address friction and differences of opinion among residents.