[Kabar-indonesia] Residents angered by Jakarta's plans for Menteng Stadium site [+Homeless]

[JoyoNews at aol.com]

also: JP: Demolition leaves Persija soccer league homeless 

The Jakarta Post
Tuesday, August 1, 2006

Residents angered by city's plans for Menteng Stadium site 

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

photo: Band of Neighbors: Menteng figures (from left to right) Nazly Pudji 
Siregar, Achmad Basuki Prawoto, Marco Kusumawijaya and Iwan Tirta moderate a 
meeting protesting against the current design of the controversial park replacing 
the old Persija soccer stadium. JP/Alvin D. Soedarjo 

Menteng stadium is now ruins and its redevelopment is just a matter of time. 

However, the plan envisioned by the city administration is not exactly what 
local residents were hoping for. 

In a meeting Monday, residents demanded the city administration change the 
planned design and conduct a more thorough feasibility study on the project. 

"The Jakarta administration only thinks in terms of money. They are not 
anticipating the environmental and health impacts this might have on the 
community," said 
long-time Menteng resident and textile designer Iwan Tirta at the meeting at 
his house. 

A committee consisting of representatives of several neighborhood units 
approved 
the administration's proposal to replace the old Menteng soccer stadium with 
an open green park for the public. 

What they disapprove of is the proposed design, which they claim could have a 
serious affect on living conditions in the area. 

The neighborhood group objects to the plan to build a multi-story parking 
facility on Jl. Sidoarjo, in place of the old Persija clubhouse, over 2,000 
square meters of land. They believe it will lead to an increase in the number of 
vehicles and people in a location only six meters from residential areas. 

The group said the administration needed to study nearby Jl. Kediri and Jl. 
Sidoarjo and consider the possibilities for traffic overflow and the extra 
pressure the development will put on the local drainage system. 

"We approve of the park development, but we reject the parking facility as it 
could cause flooding because it would diminish the amount of land that can 
absorb water," said Menteng resident and historian Adolf Heuken. 

Heuken, who lives in Jl. Mohammad Yamin, said the existence of street vendors 
had created problems for the residents, but the activities of the Persija 
soccer association had not. 

"If they are building the park, they have to make sure to also build fences 
around it," said the German-born historian, who is the co-author of Menteng, 
Taman Kota Pertama di Indonesia (Menteng, the First Garden Residence in 
Indonesia). 

An architect residing in Menteng and a spatial planner, Marco Kusumawijaya, 
said the original Persija field should not have to go through physical 
alterations if only a green area was to be built. 

"We disagree with the Jakarta administration's plan to build a futsal area. 
The ground will be cemented so it will be hard for the land to absorb water," 
said Marco. 

He added that in principle the Menteng area was developed as an 
environmentally-friendly residential area and not for commercial activities. 

A representative of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi), Selamet 
Daroyni, said the development of the park according to the present design 
violated a 1998 Home Ministry decree that stipulates that each provincial 
administration should allocate about 40 to 60 percent of its area to open green 
spaces. 

"It's easy to pinpoint the industrial, residential and office areas in 
Jakarta. But it is hard to find where the green areas are," said Selamet. 

The city administration aims to have about 14 percent of the city covered by 
green areas by 2010. Last year, only 6 percent of Jakarta's green areas were 
left, said Selamet. 

However, Johnnie Hermanto, who lives on Jl. Tasikmalaya, said he supported 
the city administration's plan to build the park. 

"The parking facility will only replace the old Persija mess so there's not 
going to be that much of a difference. Moreover, the vehicles usually parked on 
the already busy Jl. H.O.S. Cokroaminoto will move to the new parking 
facility so the streets will be much cleaner and organized," said Johnnie while 
showing the prototype of the park to reporters. 

"We, Menteng residents, have already signed an agreement with the Jakarta 
administration to build a park there, so there is no way back to reject the plan 
of the city officials," he said. 

In the signed agreement, 55 residents asked the municipality to better 
organize street vendors, plant more trees on pavements and clean up water disposal. 

Residents opposing the development said Johnnie had never attended any 
meetings on the topic before. 

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The Jakarta Post
Tuesday, August 1, 2006

Demolition leaves Persija homeless 

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Since the demolition of Menteng Stadium in Central Jakarta, many of the 
soccer clubs that are part of the Persija Jakarta league have been left with 
nowhere to play.

The subdivision leagues have had to find other locations for practicing, 
while the subdivision competition has been temporarily stopped by the city 
administration's decision to develop the stadium into an open green area. 

"The designated relocation site, Roxy Stadium, is too small for the 
subdivision competition, while Lebak Bulus Stadium is reserved for the main division," 
said Ridwan Ramli, 66, a manager who has worked with Persija Jakarta for 10 
years. 

"Hopefully we can find a new field of stadium in Central Jakarta as it is 
this most strategic areas for most of our players to reach. If we relocated to 
South Jakarta, for example, many of our players would have to commute for far 
away and it would become exclusively the southern players' territory," he said 
Saturday. 

Ridwan said the Persija Jakarta league, which consists of 70 clubs, had not 
received any compensation from the city administration. The league has a total 
of 40 junior teams, each of which can have up to 500 members. 

Ridwan, who formerly worked for the Jakarta Prosecutor's Office, said he had 
always loved soccer and teaching children, so becoming an official at Persija 
seemed to be a natural career progression. 

"I am afraid that the junior and child players will fall into drug abuse, 
drink alcohol and commit crimes while waiting for the competition to resume," he 
said. 

The clubs now have neither offices nor fields. Ridwan said he had only been 
able to save goal posts and a few other items from being demolished with the 
building. 

"We are keeping them in a temporary office in the Simpang Tiga area in 
Pejompongan (Central Jakarta)." 

One of Persija's oldest junior teams is Putra Dewata, which has been 
relocated to a district military-owned soccer field on Jl. Jenderal Urip Sumoharjo in 
Jatinegara, East Jakarta. 

The club, which has 80 players aged between 10 and 17 years old, was 
established in the 1950s to help Persija identify and cultivate new talent. 

"We can only practice at this Jatinegara field. However, we can't use this 
field for competition as there is no seating for supporters," said Dino Asmuni, 
52, who trains goal-keepers for Putra Dewata. 

"I was raised in Menteng Stadium. Back when I was a teenager playing for a 
team, setting foot in Mentang Stadium made me proud. The experience of playing 
in a heritage stadium meant that a player was good enough," said Dino. 

He said most competitors would be intimidated to play against those who had 
played at Menteng Stadium. 

"The city administration has committed a brutal act against the stadium. Many 
of our trophies that were located in the lobby were damaged by the forceful 
demolition, and even the computer in the office is missing," Dino said. 

He said Governor Sutiyoso had promised Persija some time ago that he would 
help rejuvenate the stadium. The city administration had repainted the walls of 
the Persija clubhouse in 2004 and nothing else, he added. 

"I think the governor was disappointed with Persija's first division team's 
failure to reach the semifinals in the National Djarum league competition 
recently. Sutioyoso became emotional and this was the catalyst for his recent 
actions," Dino said. 

Putra Dewata's head coach, Tatang Subandi, said he was saddened by the 
removal of the league. 

"I used to be a player for Putra Dewata. There is nothing in Jakarta like the 
old Menteng Stadium because of its location," he said. 

"When I was a player I represented Indonesia in an international competition 
against Singapore. We lost 2-1. I remember that Menteng was where I trained to 
become a better player," the 44-year-old man said. 

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Joyo Indonesia News Service
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