Green Drive to Uproot 27 Gas Stations in Jakarta

The Jakarta City Administration has announced that it will close down 27 petrol stations this month that were opened in designated green zones. It’s a radical move in a country where big business has dominated the eco dialogue for climate change and haze from burning forests for palm oil plantations is an annual event that plagues the region.

This move sends a strong message that certain government sectors in Indonesia are cognisant of the need for serious change when addressing climate change.

green team

Green Drive to Uproot 27 Gas Stations in Jakarta
www.thejakartaglobe.com

The Jakarta city administration will close down 27 gas stations this month and convert the areas into green spaces, officials said on Monday.

Dwi Bintarto, head of the city parks division, said the closures would take effect immediately after the presidential and cabinet inauguration this week. 

“The 27 gas stations are illegally located in areas that have been stipulated as green zones under city regulations,” he said.

Currently, the amount of green space in Jakarta represents only 9.6 percent of the city’s total area, well short of the roughly 30 percent, or 19,500 hectares, allowed for under municipal planning regulations. 

The closure of the gas stations and their reversion to green spaces are only part of the city’s shortterm target. Adding green zones in the capital will be an ongoing effort, with the city planning to reach 13.9 percent green space by the end of next year. 

Dwi said that the cost of closing down and converting each gas station was around Rp 75 million ($7,950). 

“Most of the funds will go towards laying pavement, building fences and planting trees,” he said. 

Dwi said that once the vacated areas had been converted to green spaces, the agency would reopen them as parks open to the public. 

The municipalities of central and south Jakarta will each have nine stations removed, while the remaining boroughs of the city will each lose three. 

Dwi declined to comment when asked whether any of the gas stations slated for closure were owned by former President Megawati Sukarnoputri, who is well known for the businesses in the capital. 

Basuki Trikora Putra, vice president of corporate communications at PT Pertamina, said the company had received a letter from the city administration requesting it stop supplying fuel to the stations. 

“We’ll stop supply after the presidential inauguration this week,” he said.

Read the complete article.