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Bekasi skaters in for year-end treat as city promises skate park under toll road
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Vacant space under the Slipi overpass in Central Jakarta has been turned into a skate park. (kompas.com/Rindi Nuris Velarosdela)
T
he administration of Bekasi in West Java is turning the Jatiasih toll road area into a playground for skaters, with construction expected to conclude by the end of December.
“The construction of the skate park has almost been completed. Progress has reached 75 percent to date,” said Bekasi Deputy Mayor Tri Adhiato after visiting the building site on Thursday, as quoted by kompas.com.
Tri added that Bekasi had funded the project to the tune of Rp 100 million (US$7,110) taken from the 2019 city budget. The area under construction measures around 200 square meters and lies right beneath the toll road, where the Jatiasih Police station used to be located.
Previously, the spot was a flower garden, but the city decided it could serve a more practical purpose as a place for community interaction.
In addition to skating, said Tri, the community could also utilize the park as a spot for group activities or just a hangout place for anyone from Bekasi or from outside the city.
With the project, the city aims to accommodate a request from skateboarding enthusiasts in Bekasi. The local skater community had asked for a new park after the only such playground in Pekayon, which had been opened in 2012, was recently closed because the privately-owned land is set to be revitalized.
Tri said the government would build more arenas for community interaction in the future and the city administration had eyed vacant land that was not properly developed for public spaces.
The city has also announced plans to turn the area under the Rawa Panjang overpass in Bekasi into a skate park as well as a BMX bike playground. Work on that project is set to begin once the ongoing construction of the overpass is completed. (syk)
