Ministry Of State Secretariat And DPR Meeting: Unlicensed Revitalization Of Monas

JAKARTA - Commission II of the DPR is questioning State Secretary Minister (Mensesneg) Pratikno regarding the revitalization of Monas which is being handled by the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government.

Member of Commission II Junimart Girsang from the PDIP faction said that Monas revitalization is an environmental crime. Moreover, said Junimart, its implementation did not comply with the rules for presidential decree (Keppres) number 25 of 1995.

Junimart questioned how was Praktino's attitude towards the revitalization of Monas. He also questioned the permission from the Ministry of State Secretariat (Kemensetneg) regarding revitalization, including permission from the president for this project.

"It's been disobedient to Presidential Decree number 25 of 1995. What is the attitude of the State Secretariat here sir? How are the 190 trees cut down? How about the trees that were cut down as many as 190? We should have looked after them but were cut down by the governor. How is this?" he said, during a working meeting with Commission II of the DPR, at the DPR Building, Parliament Complex, Senayan, Jakarta, Tuesday, January 28.

According to Junimart, trees that are already good and grow big should not be cut down just like that. Because, these trees can absorb pollution in the air. Cutting down these trees will actually have a negative impact on the environment.

"Please, the Minister, do not remain silent. Criminally report environmental crimes. This is disobedient to the presidential decree. I emphasize that cutting down trees is precisely what causes flood inundation," he said.

The question about the revitalization of Monas was also raised by Junimart's fellow fraction, Endro S. Yahman. He questioned the ownership of Monas assets and the Ministry of State's oversight of it.

"The Monas area was busy yesterday, is this a state asset or an asset for DKI Jakarta? Who does the certificate hold? How does the State Secretary carry out the task of monitoring the revitalization of Monas, which is now a polemic for problems in the mass media with the flight of trees? How is this monitoring function," he said.

Meanwhile, Deputy Chairman of Commission II Arwani Thomafi from the PPP faction questioned the coordination of the Ministry of State and Provincial Government of DKI Jakarta regarding this revitalization. He assessed that the Monas area revitalization project would not overlap if the Ministry of State and Provincial Government of DKI were to coordinate with each other.

"Ideally, from the start there is better coordination, so there will be no polemics at a later date, especially until the Ministry of State Secretariat sends a letter asking for the project termination," said Arwani.

Still in the meeting, Minister of State Secretary (Mensesneg) Pratikno answered Commission II's questions regarding the revitalization of the Monas area, which cut 190 trees. According to him, until now there has been no permit letter regarding revitalization from the DKI Provincial Government to the Steering Committee.

"There is a letter from the DKI Regional Secretariat, not asking for permission, but an explanation (the revitalization of the Monas area)," he said.

According to Pratikno, as long as the permit has not been issued, all revitalization of the area in Ring 1 must be stopped. The process of revitalizing the Monas area on the southern side carried out by the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government has no basis because it has not yet obtained a permit from the Steering Committee for the Medan Merdeka Area.

"We did not receive the letter (permit), therefore indeed (the revitalization of the Monas area) had no substance basis. Until the incident occurred. So we also did not know in real terms and then it became news," he said.

Pratikno as Chairman of the Medan Merdeka Area Steering Board admitted that he had sent a letter and coordinated with the Governor of DKI Jakarta Anies Baswedan regarding the polemic on the revitalization of the Monas area.

In this regard, the Governor of DKI Jakarta serves as Secretary of the Free Medan Steering Committee as well as the Executive Board of Medan Merdeka. While its members are the Ministry of PUPR, Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of Transportation, and Ministry of Environment and Forestry.

"We sent a letter to the Governor of DKI a few days ago. We are still waiting to see if there is a letter from the Medan Merdeka Executive Agency. We will soon hold a trial, but before that we invite experts from various fields. After that we will have a meeting as soon as possible so that it will not harm the community. because there are facilities that are neglected, "said Pratikno.