Anies' Men Admit That There Are Still Trees That Have Not Been Replaced Due To Felling At Monas Revitalization

Illustration (Unsplash)

JAKARTA - Head of the City Parks and Forests of DKI Jakarta Province, Suzi Marsitawati, admitted that there are still replacement trees that have not been planted in the revitalization area of the National Monument (Monas).

However, Suzi admitted that he could not describe in detail how many replacement trees had been replanted and had not yet been re-planted as a result of the revitalization of Monas.

"There are several (trees) for the Monas area that has not been planted. We are currently preparing for the number to follow", said Suzi in a virtual discussion on Thursday, April 22.

Meanwhile, for the replacement of 1,173 trees in the Monas area and Jalan MH Thamrin that were felled as a result of the Phase 2 MRT project, Suzi said that this was starting to be realized.

"For the construction of the MRT, tree replacement has been carried out by the MRT. Later replacements will be available and some of them have also been planted in the Monas area", said Suzi.

Tree felling polemic at Monas

In the Monas revitalization project in early 2022, the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government cut 191 mahogany trees. This had upset the Regional House of Representatives of DKI Jakarta. On Monday, February 20, 2020, Commission B of the Regional House of Representatives of DKI Jakarta conducted an impromptu inspection of the revitalization location.

At the location, at that time, Member of Commission B Gilbert Simanjuntak reiterated why his party questioned the fate of the tree which was now out of place during the revitalization. Gilbert did not believe the DKI Pemprov's excuse that the tree had only been moved.

"A large tree, it is impossible to replant at any time. It must be cut down. If you want to use any camouflage, you must cut it down and then plant it again. A tree-like the jacaranda is this big, it is impossible to move it without its roots.

Seeing the oddity of the Monas revitalization work, the Regional House of Representatives will hold a commission meeting to follow up on the results of their inspection and asked for the revitalization project to be stopped.

"Look, this is work. No work for the 2019 budget will be done in 2020. I ask for this to be stopped", said Regional House of Representatives Member Pandapotan Sinaga.

Monas revitalization was stopped. Until finally, the revitalization was resumed with a note that the DKI Provincial Government had to replant trees three times the number of trees cut down. That means the Government of DKI must plant 573 trees around the Monas revitalization area.