In the last four months, the Radya Pustaka Museum reportedly could not afford to pay electricity, tap water, or telephone bills, or the salaries of its 12 employees, including the three members of the museum’s management committee.

Earlier, the committee halted a number of programs, one of which was the digitization of old manuscripts. This program was aimed at rescuing old manuscripts in the museum, most of which have been severely damaged by age because they are more than 50 years old. By converting them into digital forms, the museum can let visitors access their contents via Internet in the museum. They will not have to physically touch the manuscripts, which will aid their preservation.

“We are forced to stop the program. We don’t have money. It is impossible for us – the museum’s employees and committee members – to continually contribute to finance the program,” said committee chairman Purnomo Subagyo on Friday.

The Radya Pustaka Museum should have received a grant worth Rp 300 million (US$22,731.60) from the Surakarta administration at the beginning of January. The committee had planned to use the money to finance a number of programs and museum operations and to pay employee salaries. This year’s grant would have been lower than the one it received in 2015, which amounted to Rp 400 million.

“Up until now, we haven’t received it. We have twice asked the administration to disburse it. In the current situation, we cannot do anything,” said Purnomo.

He further said that during the last four months, the committee covered the operational activities with revenues from entrance fees and contributions from museum employees and committee members. The museum needed around Rp 8 million per month to pay the electricity, tap water and telephone bills.

“Our revenues from the entrance fees amount to a maximum of Rp 3 million per month, while to cover only the electricity bill we spend Rp 4 million. All this time, we have taken some portions of our committee members' and employees’ salaries to cover the museum's operations. Since January, they even have not received their salaries,” said Purnomo.

Radya Pustaka was built in 1890, during the period of Surakartan king Pakubuwono IX. Its development was initiated by Kanjeng Raden Adipati (KRA) Sosrodiningrat IV, who served as chief minister to two Surakartan kings, Paku Buwono IX and Paku Buwono X.

Initially, the museum was located inside the Kasunanan Palace complex in Surakarta. In 1913, Sosrodiningrat moved the museum to its current location on Jl. Slamet Riyadi, next to the Sriwedari Park.

Mitra Museum coordinator Teguh Prrihadi said Surakarta residents and museum visitors are suffering a great loss with the closing of the museum. He said the closure set a bad precedent for the preservation of culture in Surakarta.

“It’s really unfortunate. Last year, Surakarta was given an award in the category of the best city with cultural attractions and area preservation,” said Teguh.

Surakarta Mayor FX Hadi “Rudy” Rudyatmo said he regretted the closing of the Radya Pustaka Museum. He said the disbursement of the Rp 300 million grant had been delayed because there was a new rule saying that a grant beneficiary must be a corporate body and Radya Pustaka was not such an organization.

Rudy asserted the Surakarta administration would not neglect Radya Pustaka because this museum had become a cultural icon of the city. The mayor promised he would seek a solution to the problem.

“It seems quite difficult for us to disburse the grant because Radya Pustaka is not a corporate body, but the Surakarta administration will help cover the routine operational activities as soon as possible,” said Rudy. (ebf)

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