Dutch involved in Kota renewal

The Jakarta Post

JAKARTA: The city administration will bring in experts from the Netherlands to run the Old Town revitalization program, since most of the buildings in the area are European designs, Deputy Governor Fauzi Bowo said Monday.

"We've had a good relationship with the experts from the Netherlands so we can invite them to share what's best for the program," Fauzi told reporters after receiving guests from the Dutch Royal Institute of Civil Engineers in City Hall.

"We mostly talked about the Old Town revitalization program. The entourage visited the area yesterday and we have reached the common opinion that the revitalization program can first be initiated by removing all public transportation routes from the area. We'll make the Old Town area a tourist destination," Fauzi said, as quoted by the official city website BeritaJakarta.

The administration's development assistant Nurfakih Wirawan said he welcomed the initiative to involve experts from the Netherlands in the ongoing revitalization program, which began last year.

"I think it's a must to involve the Dutch experts because they can help us move toward the a new but original look for the Old Town," he said. --JP