City Begs for More Funds To Save 600 Old Buildings

An Old Dutch-era Building In Jakarta, Indonesia

Jakarta - The Jakarta administration on Friday pleaded for special funds from the central government to save more than 600 cultural heritage buildings in the city.

Arie Budiman, head of the Culture and Tourism Agency, said the city has been lacking funds to manage historical buildings that could actually serve as tourism attractions.

“We do hope [the central government] could give us a certain amount of money from the state budget to save the cultural heritage buildings in the capital,” he said.

Arie did not specify how much they needed but said the figure would be sizable. He said they would need funds to cover both maintenance costs and renovation work that would not alter the original architecture of the buildings.

According to Arie, the city has 273 historical buildings, mostly built during the Dutch colonial era. But he said they have identified another 400 buildings that need to be declared as part of Indonesia‘s cultural heritage, and therefore put under the protection of the government.

This, he said, would ensure that the buildings‘ original architecture would not be altered.

Certain sites, Arie said, were managed directly by the city administration and the central government. Others were under the care of private individuals or groups, but still under the supervision of the government.

Councilor Tarmizi said the city administration needed to come up with a plan to save the buildings in Jakarta, adding that the plan should be part of the city‘s efforts to attract more tourists.

“The properly managed old buildings, especially those in Kota [in North Jakarta], could attract more tourists that eventually could contribute to the city‘s culture and tourism revenues,” he said, referring to the 840-hectare area in North Jakarta that has at least 162 old buildings.

Source: TheJakartaGlobe.com
Photo Credit: DayLife.com

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