Yeah, the district of Johar Baru in Central Jakarta can be pretty scary. In the past year there have been news stories about neighborhood brawls, mob beatings, a stabbing over a Playstation and a hot oil attack by a jealous husband all taking place there. Johar Baru’s impoverished Tanah Tinggi neighborhood is especially infamous, having recently been in the news for several deadly clashes between drug dealers and the police that have taken place there.
How do you start to improve a neighborhood like that? Well, one idea would be to open a community center – so that kids have something to do besides fight and steal and people have a place to socialize over things besides meth.
So that’s what Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama did today, inaugurating a brand-new Integrated Child Friendly Public Spaces (RPTRA – which is the government’s fancy term for family friendly community centers) in the Tanah Tinggi neighborhood.
RPTRA Pulo Halak is 1,189 square meters large and was built by PT. Global Digital Niaga as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility work with the Jakarta administration.
“We built this RPTRA so that parents can take their children outside more often to do outdoor activities,” said PT Global Digital Niaga CEO Kusumo Martanto today, as quoted by Vivanews.
Govrnor Ahok said the RPTRA would also act as a place where people could talk and meet their neighbors.
“But not for gossiping! We should discuss things like, have our neighbors already eaten yet? Are their children going to school? Are their family members healthy or not? If they are sick, we should help them go to the local health center,” Ahok said.
RPTRA Pulo Gundul’s facilities include a multi-purpose hall, a sports field, nursing rooms, a library, pantry, toilet, garden, amphitheater, a water catchment area and even a place to access the internet for free.
While it certainly won’t end all of Tanah Tinggi’s problems, it cannot be overestimated how much opening a facility like this can mean to the members of a local community. It not only gives them a place to have fun, exercise and socialize – it also shows them that the government actually does care about them. And that alone can make a huge difference.
