"We hope there will be 1,000 public parks spread across every neighbourhood in Jakarta," Jokowi said.
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Ten days after his inauguration as the new governor of Jakarta, Joko Widodo, popularly known as Jokowi, toured the parks of the capital city on October 26 until the evening.

"Don`t follow me, I am going to see other parks of Jakarta until the evening," he told the press at the Semanggi park.

On November 4, Jokowi joined Public Works Minister Djoko Kirmanto on a bicycle ride to launch the "Jakarta Green City" campaign concurrently with "Land Spatial Day".

On the occasion, the governor expressed his commitment to providing Jakarta's residents with green open spaces covering 30 percent of the capital city`s total land area by the end of his five- year term.

"We hope there will be 1,000 public parks spread across every neighbourhood in Jakarta," Jokowi said.

Jakarta covers a total land area of 661.52 square kilometres and maritime area of 6,977.5 sq km. The Jokowi government has set itself a target of having 198.7 sq km of green open spaces in Jakarta by 2018.

The current 66.1 sq km of green open spaces account for almost 10 percent of Jakarta's total land area. The city needs to have green open spaces covering an additional 20 percent, or 132.2 sq km, in order to meet the government's 30 percent target.

Under Law No. 26/2007 on Spatial Management, every Indonesian province is obliged to allocate at least 30 percent of its total land area to green and open spaces.

The Jakarta Spatial Plan for 2011-30 is in line with the law.

At present, of the 350 parks in Jakarta, only 10 to 15 are worth a visit, according to urban park expert Nirwono Joga.

Among the major parks in the city are Suropati, Menteng, Situ Lembang, National Monument (Monas) Park in Central Jakarta, as well as Langsat and Ayodya parks in South Jakarta.

"Most of the capital city`s parks are not well maintained because the city administration`s budget allocation for park maintenance is very small, about 1/20th in comparison to that of Singapore," Nirwono said at a conference, themed "Green City for a Better Life", in Jakarta recently.

Unfortunately, green and open spaces are not yet a priority for the Indonesian administration, he stated.

"Over the past decade, the expansion of green and open spaces in Jakarta was only 1 percent," Nirwono noted.

Green and open spaces in Jakarta, he added, comprise public as well as private property.

"The expansion target for public green and open spaces has been set at 20 percent for 2013, while for private it is 10 percent," he said.

"Private green and open spaces are not accessible 24 hours a day because the assets belong to institutions or individuals, such as offices` front yards or private gardens," Nirwono explained.

"Besides, there are also non-green open spaces such as dams, rivers, lakes, beaches and parking areas," he pointed out.

"Based on some data that we have collected, Banda Aceh, Medan, Bukit Tinggi, Pariaman, Sawahlunto, Batam, and Tanjung Pinang have green and open spaces covering up to 8.3 percent of their total area," Nirwono said.

In Pagar Alam, Bandar Lampung, Metro, Bogor, and Salatiga, the figures were 4.6 percent, followed by Semarang, Surakarta, Yogyakarta, and Blitar (17 percent), Malang (7.8 percent), Probolinggo (13.21 percent), Mataram (12 percent), and Gorontalo, Makassar, and Pare-pare (14 percent).

"I hope Indonesian cities become healthier, ecologically, socially, and economically," Norwono stated.

Earlier this month, Jakarta`s Parks and Cemetery Agency head Catharina Suryowati was quoted by the media as saying that the agency was in the process of adding 25 new parks to the existing 960 in the capital by December, and that it would add 30 more parks in 2013.

Last year, the agency, which allocates Rp 300 billion (US$31.22 million) every year to management of the city`s parks, built 15 parks.

According to travel and lifestyle website "JavaMilk", the top five parks in Jakarta are Menteng Park, National Monument (Monas) Park, Ayodhya Park, Tomang Park, and Cikini Hospital Park.

Taman Mini Indonesia Indah (TMII) or "Beautiful Indonesia in Miniature Park" is also worth a visit, as visitors can enjoy the greenery, a lot of birds, flowers, and various Indonesian traditional houses.

To showcase the city's technological progress, Monas, Menteng and Suropati parks -- all in Central Jakarta -- have been equipped with free Wireless Fidelity (WiFi) facility this year.

The Jakarta administration plans to provide WiFi facility at seven other parks, namely Situ Lembang, Ayodya, Langsat, Ragunan camping ground, Banteng, Cattleya, and Tebet. (*)

Reporter: Fardah
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2012