23.29
adi rahman
Though the mega-city is about to
lose its throne due to its notorious traffic-jams and unending floods, many
people still believe that the city's status as the economic epicenter unlikely be
replaced. Growing in rapid pace since the 17th century, Jakarta
attracts talented and wealthy businessmen from every corner of Indonesia.
Hence, several trades and business areas are spotted in almost every part of the
city whilst Tana Abang remains the busiest one. The oldest University in the
country, the fancy University of Indonesia, is also located in the town along
with many other elite private universities such as Pelita Harapan and Bina
Nusantara which also have triggered more urbanization. While education and business have
put Jakarta in spot-light since colonials era, politics has propelled the city’s
population for no more than 20 years.
The flood issue in Jakarta is a prevailing task which has been tried to
solve since Bang Yos era in 1990’s. A copycat design to polder pond in the
Netherland had been proposed in 1990 before other ideas came up in 2000’s such
as river re-vitalization, re-planting water absorber areas in Puncak, Bogor and
imposing a severe penalty on river-littering. None of these proposals was
implemented. Some said it was due to budget-in-availability. Other said it was
because the project was object of political dominance in either municipality
parliament or national parliament.
March 1st, 2020
