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Eight historical buildings gone in 1 week
Demolition of eight historical buildings in Medan, North Sumatra began last week despite concerns from activists and historians
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Demolition of eight historical buildings in Medan, North Sumatra began last week despite concerns from activists and historians.
The historical buildings — five Dutch colonial-era buildings on Jl. Timor and three on Jl. Ahmad Yani — would be replaced by a shopping mall and a newspaper office.
Sumatra Heritage Council (BWS) secretary Rika Susanto, said that the demolition of historical buildings in Medan was uncontrolled.
More than 45 of 150 historical buildings that the BWS proposed for preservation have been torn down over the last several years, she said.
The BWS handed over the historical building protection proposal program to the municipality in 1999.
City bylaws listed 42 protected buildings in the city, compared to 660 protected buildings in Medan and its surrounding area.
The BWS has tried to protect historical buildings, but to no avail, insisting on the need of strong regulation to protect them as the current bylaw is ineffective to stop the demolitions.
”How can a bylaw stop people if the punishment is only a three-month sentence or a fine of only Rp 50,000 [US$5.40]?” Rika asked.
The bylaw was very weak and should be revised, Rika told The Jakarta Post on Monday.
The demolition of five historical buildings on Jl. Timor was nearly complete.
The buildings were being demolished to make way for construction of a new shopping mall, Jati Junction.
The destruction of three historical buildings on Jl. Ahmad Yani also began this weekend.
An excavator tore down the buildings, which had housed editorial offices for the Garuda, Andalas and Analisa daily newspapers.
A new building for Analisa, one Medan’s biggest-selling newspapers, will be constructed in place of the historical buildings.
Historians from Singapore and the Netherlands recently criticized the municipality’s lack of serious effort in protecting Medan’s historical buildings.
E.E. McKinnon, a historian from Singapore, said the rate of demolition of historical buildings in several North Sumatra cities, especially Medan, was already alarmingly high.
The public would soon lose its heritage unless the city adopted stern measures to save historical buildings, he said.
Dutch historian Dirk A. Buiskool said that preserving the city’s heritage could improve local income.
Medan Tourism Office head Risma Hutabarat said that she could not stop the demolitions.
The buildings were being demolished by their owners and not listed as historical buildings under the bylaw, she added.
Risma said only a few historical buildings were protected by existing bylaws.
The Medan Tourism Office would soon invite relevant agencies to revise the bylaws that regulate the city’s historical heritage, she said.
“The bylaw should be revised because it’s weak.”
