Kota Tua, the city’s Old Town district filled with Dutch Colonial-era buildings, is one of the few areas in Jakarta of interest to both locals and foreign tourists. While the area has seen a bit of a revival in recent years, many of its historic buildings are still crumbling away from decades of neglect and disuse.
Hoping to change that, the Jakarta Government is planning to rent some 60 historic buildings from their current owner, PT Perusahaan Perdagangan Indonesia (PPI), in order to transform them into educational and community centers focusing on bringing movies, music, art and theater to Kota Tua.
Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama said the rental plan was actually conceived by President Joko Widodo as a way for the city to revitalized the area more efficiently.
“There are 60 existing buildings in Kota Tua and we cannot just destroy them if we can revitalize them. We have to create a lot of new activity so that Kota Tua can live again.,” Ahok said today as quoted by Harian Terbit.
Ahok said the government has already budgeted Rp 20 billion to spend on the revitalization project but that they would have to commit to renting the buildings for 20 years.
