The Story Of Anies Baswedan Cutting Hundreds Of Trees At Monas

JAKARTA - The wish of the Governor of DKI Jakarta, Anies Baswedan to hold a world-class race of no two. He tried to bring in an electric-powered car race, Formula E Championship to Jakarta. The National Monument (Monas) area was chosen as the circuit.

The owner of power thinks that the historic area is the added value of the Formula E celebration. Instead of getting broad support, Anies and Jakpro actually got protests here and there. All because Anies rashly cut down hundreds of trees at Monas.

Anies Baswedan often introduces Jakarta to the world. Various studies are carried out. The efforts of the DKI Jakarta government to become the host of Formula E Championship 2020, one of which is. Complete preparation is the main step.

The Formula E event is considered to be able to make Jakarta popular in the eyes of the world. In fact, Anies together with Regional Owned Enterprises (BUMD), Jakarta Propertindo (Jakpro) have been making preparations since 2019. Anies held pre-events in several places.

Support also flows to the DKI Jakarta Government. The celebration is considered capable of making a new history. A history that Indonesia for the first time became the host of world-class electric car racing.

A year later, Jakpro together with the FIA (Federation internationale de l'automobile) Formula E Championship announced the venue for the race which will take place on June 6, 2020.

They obtained permission to make the Monas area and its surroundings a racing circuit. The election was considered the right step. Because Monas has great historical value for the growth and development of the Indonesian nation.

Efforts to make the Monas area part of the original circuit a little difficult. All because the Monas area is included in the cultural heritage area. Anies also dared to put up a body that the Formula E race would not damage the cultural heritage area.

Anies actually thinks that the Formula E event actually has many benefits, rather than disadvantages. Because the value of the benefits of Formula E celebration for Jakarta is so great. Formula E is not only known as a sports celebration, but also a sport that can support the arrival of world tourists.

"This type of industry is the most attractive so we hope that it can provide economic benefits across sectors," Anies said as quoted by Antara, February 15, 2020.

The choice of the Monas area as part of the Formula E circuit made the DKI Jakarta government clean up. They then perpetuate the revitalization of the Monas area. One of the revitalization steps is to create a plaza (alun) at Monas.

Anies Baswedan also asked the ranks to move quickly. He also allowed the construction of the square. Instead of careful thinking about the development, the DKI Jakarta government was actually reckless by cutting down hundreds of trees on the south side of Monas. Even though the DKI Jakarta government later said the tree was moved to another place. At least 190 trees from the types of mahoganies, trambesi, to the teak that were cut down.

Anies considered the felling of the tree to smooth the steps to make the square concrete. Later, the square will have many benefits. Mainly, the square is used for government activities such as apples or ceremonies.

Instead of supporting, all Jakarta residents criticized Anies' move. The majority of the criticism that states is the government's neglect of the survival of the Jakarta environment. In fact, Formula E carries environmentally friendly races.

The central government took a stand. The Palace asked Anies to temporarily stop the Monas revitalization project. The project is considered to destroy cultural heritage. As a result, Formula E, which is planned to take place in the Monas area, was moved to Ancol.

However, the implementation only took place on June 4, 2022. Alias delayed two years from the initial plan because the COVID-19 pandemic attacked.

The decision of the Governor of DKI Jakarta Anies Baswedan to hold a Formula E race around the National Monument in early June 2020 will only benefit a handful of entrepreneurs. Most of the residents of the capital actually lost money.

Not only losing hundreds of trees that must be cut down to tidy up the electric car speeding arena, residents also do not necessarily benefit from its implementation. The jumbo funds of around Rp. 1.6 trillion disbursed by the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government for Formula E will be much more useful if used to anticipate flooding or build flats for residents," wrote Tempo Magazine's report entitled Formula E Buat Siapa (2020).