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s the first phase of the Kali Besar revitalization in Kota Tua, the city’s old town area in West Jakarta, has almost finished, the city administration is confident that the urban park can be inaugurated before the start of the Asian Games.

Currently, two of five bridges on the 600-meter stretch of the Krukut River from Bank Indonesia Museum to Jl. Kopi have been constructed.

Leaf-shaped floating pontoons, which will be used as floating bridges in the future, have been installed along the river.

Several sculptures — a man reading on a bench, a boy in a school uniform and a city cleaner, all made by prominent sculptor Dolorosa Sinaga — have also been placed in the park around the river.

“We hope the first phase of the revitalization can be inaugurated in June or during the celebration of the country’s Independence Day on Aug. 17,” Kota Tua Zone Management Unit head Novriadi Setio Husodo told The Jakarta Post.

Novriadi said the revitalized Kali Besar was inspired by Seoul Cheonggyecheon creek in South Korea because like the creek, Kali Besar was at the center of a crowded district.

It was designed by Budi Lim, an architect who has a lot of experience in conserving and restoring old buildings.

Budi was the winner of the highest honor in the 2001 UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Awards for the restoration of Indonesia’s National Archive Building.

The project has been funded with Rp 270 billion (US$19.71 million) in compensation payments from PT Sampoerna Land, which increased the floor area ratio (KLB) for its building on Jl. Prof. Dr. Satrio in Kuningan, South Jakarta.

The project kicked off in 2016 to implement Jakarta Governor Instruction No. 101/2016 on accelerating the development of Kota Tua.

While it was expected to finish in 2017, the project has only just been completed. The delay was caused by a number of reasons such as the discovery of cultural heritage in the river.

In February last year, workers found some old wooden poles at the bottom of the river that were going to be concreted.

Jakarta heritage conservation team said the poles were the remaining foundations of an 18th century sluice gate.

After the discovery, the plan to concrete over the poles was cancelled and the city administration decided to keep them in the river to prevent damage.

“We’ve taken a sample of the objects to be displayed in the park so visitors can learn about the history of the place,” Novriadi said.

Gamal Sinurat, assistant to the city secretary for city development, said the administration would not rush the project despite its plan to inaugurate the place before the Asian Games.

For instance, the installation of cables into ducts for phase one had not yet been done due to the ongoing identification of cultural heritage objects, he said.

“We’re still waiting for the city’s tourist agency to identify the cultural heritage objects before continuing the project,” Gamal said.

The city administration had also decided to postpone the second phase of the revitalization, which would continue the project from Jl. Kopi to Kota Intan Bridge, for the same reason, he added.

Separately, Candrian Attahiyat, a member of the expert Jakarta heritage conservation team, said he regretted the phase one project had been conducted without considering the recommendation from the restoration trial team.

The Kali Besar revitalization concept had altered the function of the Kali Besar river, making it a reservoir, he said.

“The place may be beautiful, but the next generation would not be able to know the history of the river. Even though we can’t bring back the past function of the river, the river shall stay a river,” he said.