Analyzing The Impact Of Damage Due To Monas Revitalization And Implementation Of Formula E

Monas which is being revitalized (Diah Ayu Wardani / VOI)

JAKARTA - The Medan Merdeka Area Steering Committee has granted permission to the Governor of DKI Jakarta Anies Baswedan to revitalize the National Monument (Monas) and organize Formula E.

However, today, Wednesday, February 26, the Steering Committee sent a team to conduct research on efforts to revitalize the south side of Monas and test the installation of asphalt as a Formula E circuit on natural stone (cobblestone) in the national cultural heritage area.

This team consists of academics from the Indonesian Center for Biodiversity and Biotechnology assigned by the Minister of Environment and Forestry (LHK) Siti Nurbaya, as a member of Komrah. They are tasked with analyzing the potential for environmental damage from the Monas revitalization work and the implementation of Formula E there.

The first location to go was the south side of Monas, the place where Monas was revitalized, which cut down 191 trees there. A number of samples were taken, including samples of felled soil, leaves and tree trunks. The sample was put into a plastic bag and taken to be examined in a laboratory in Bogor. The results of the research will be out for a month at the latest.

"After we checked the condition of the trees, it turned out that felling was true. Next, we analyzed whether it was true that the felling had caused damage from the initial conditions before it was felled," said a member of Komrah's assistance team, Bambang Hero, when met at Monas, Wednesday, February 26.

Komrah's assistance team checks (Diah Ayu Wardani / VOI)

Next, this team checked the Formula E trial site on the east side of Monas. They found that the natural stone (cobblestone) was scratched by heavy equipment. They photographed this condition using a cellphone camera as evidence.

In addition, the assistance team also found residual asphalt that had settled between the cobblestone. With a little effort, they dredge the asphalt and put the asphalt sample into the bag where the samples were collected.

"We can see that the asphalt is still imprinted. If yesterday it was conveyed (by JakPro) that everything was smooth, it was not. This was not as smooth as stated," said Bambang, saying he had no authority to decide the possibility of a violation of the destruction of the cultural heritage area there.

Komrah's assistance team checks (Diah Ayu Wardani / VOI)

In a separate location, DKI Regional Secretary Saefullah admitted that he did not receive notification regarding the inspection of the Medan Merdeka Area Steering Commission team. He also did not want to say much about the team's efforts.

"I don't know, there's no report yet," said Saefullah. "We'll just wait (for the results)," he said.

Meanwhile, President Director of PT Jakarta Propertindo (JakPro) Dwi Wahyu Daryoto casually responded to the finding of traces of asphalt at the test site, as well as the remaining scratches. PT Jakpro is the party that carried out the cobblestone paving for the implementation of Formula E.

"The name is just a trial to compare the two methods, we consider it as input. If there are scratches, we will try to see how the condition is and how it is repaired. If there is residual asphalt, we will try to clean it again," said Dwi.