Jakarta, Dec 31 (Antara) - White tents and entertainment stages bedeck
the roadsides along Jalan Thamrin and Merdeka Selatan, in the central
business district of Jakarta, on Tuesday, to hail in the New Year 2014.
This year, Jakarta will welcome the New Year by holding the 'Jakarta
Night Festival' (JNF), which has been chalked out by Governor Joko
Widodo as the annual event.
"We have made preparations and set up entertainment stages and tents,"
Head of Jakarta Tourism and Cultural Service Arie Budhiman stated at the
City Hall.
He
informed that the preparations for the festival, which included setting
up the stages, required a lot of time, hence, the work had begun two
days before the New Year's Eve.
"Of
the total 12 stages planned for the JNF, three were set up on Monday.
The main stage is located around the Hotel Indonesia Traffic Circle,"
Arie added.
The Jakarta administration has also installed 300 stands for street
vendors along the Jalan Thamrin, Jalan Medan Merdeka Selatan, and Dukuh
Atas Trains Station area.
The 12 entertainment stages will be the hub of all the festivities in
Central Jakarta and are located in front of the City Hall, ate Western
Square of Monas, around Bank Indonesia, Wisma Mandiri, Gedung Jaya
building, Jalan Sunda, EX Center, Hullman Hotel, Hotel Indonesia
Roundabout, Jalan Pamekasan, UOB building, and Duku Atas train station
area.
The JNF will showcase various cultural and art performances. Each stage
will present various entertainment shows such as traditional,
contemporary, and modern music performances with local and pop songs.
City
artists such as Rhoma Irama, Radja Band personnel, among others, will
add spark to the JNF festivities. The entertainment performances will
simultaneously start at 8 p.m. on Tuesday and finish at 1.30 a.m. on
Wednesday.
Joko Widido, better known as Jokowi, announced on Tuesday, that the JNF
will henceforth be held as an annual event to mark the New Year
celebrations in the capital city.
"Yes,
this event should be organized annually. A city should be able to offer
a balance in life. It should not revolve around people meeting only to
discuss matters related to economy and money. They will then only have
materialistic thoughts related to new cars, houses, etc. Religious and
cultural celebrations must be held in the city," the governor noted in
the City Hall.
According to Jokowi, a sense of balance in life is important for the
residents of the city to ensure their happiness, as their lives will be
filled with activities apart from economic and commercial ones.
"There must be a balance so that residents living in a city will be
happier. Life should not be filled with mere economic matters. That's
the one change, which I want to create," he emphasized.
Organizing the Jakarta Night Festival will help to create an identity and character for the Jakarta city.
"A city needs to have its own identity and character and we need to
work towards achieving this. We want to showcase to the world that
Jakarta has an identity and character of a festival city," he added.
In connection with the JNF preparations, the Jakarta governor pointed
out that the regional administration has set up tents and stages in
certain locations.
"I have made an observation tour to evaluate the preparations. All the
preparations have been made as per plans. Tents were being fixed and so
were 'freedom fighter' stages," the Jakarta governor observed.
He added that the public order security task forces (Satpol PP) and the
Transportation Service (Dishub) will conduct vehicle sterilization at
celebration areas beginning 4 p.m. Western Indonesia Standard Time
(WIB), so that the Jakarta residents keen to celebrate the New Year will
be able to gain access to the celebration sites conveniently.
"So, the Satpol PP and the Dishub will make sure that the celebration
areas will be free from vehicles, so that everything is in order and the
residents can enjoy the celebrations. I have also checked the area
around the National Monument (Monas) square, though I still have to ask
the Satpol PP officers to ensure that law and order is enforced," Jokowi
remarked.
In the meantime, the Jakarta Police will deploy around 6.5 thousand
joint personnel, in an effort to secure the 2014 New Year celebrations.
"We have coordinated with related parties, such as the provincial
government, including the Department of Transportation and the tourism
affairs service," Head of the Jakarta Police Public Relations Department
Senior Commissioner Rikwanto stated.
Rikwanto
noted that the security personnel will be stationed at the JNF venues,
such as Hotel Indonesia roundabout, Sarinah shopping center, the
National Monument (Monas), and the Horse Statue area.
Two weeks ago, the Jakarta Regional Police Deputy Chief Brigadier
General Sudjarno claimed that he will deploy around ten thousand
personnel to maintain security during Christmas and New Year's Eve.
"Along with the military, we will have about 10.1 thousand personnel maintaining law and order," he pointed out.
According to Jakarta Governor Jokowi, his administration had already
adopted measures to secure the capital city during the New Year
festivities.
"I think there will be no crimes, but I will focus on crime prevention
measures. We will undertake intelligence operations, in advance, to
anticipate and prevent criminal acts from occurring," Jokowi remarked.
He added that during the festival period, public transportation for the
southern part of the city will be based from Duku Atas, to ensure easy
commuting for those who want to go home from South Jakarta.
The
Jakarta Public Order Security (Satpol PP)'s head Kukuh Hadi Santoso
announced on Monday that the city will field about three thousand Satpol
PP officers to assist the police in securing the 2014 New Year
celebrations.
"We will deploy around three thousand Satpol PP officers to help the
police secure the New Year's Eve festivities," remarked Kukuh Hadi
Santoso.
Kukuh announced that the three thousand officers will be stationed at
crowded places in five Jakarta municipality areas.
"The places frequented by visitors including the Indonesia in Miniature
Park (TMII), the Ancol Dream Land, and the Old City will be guarded,"
noted Kukuh.
"Our
focus will be on the 'Jakarta Night Festival' organized by the Jakarta
administration to welcome the 2014 New Year," Kukuh stated.
Kukuh noted that Satpol PP members deployed to guard the New Year celebrations will not be equipped with firearms.
"They will take persuasive approach in maintaining law and order, thus
there is no need for them to be equipped with arms," he added.
***3***
(T.A014/ INE/a014)
EDITED BY INE
(T.A014/A/BESSR/A. Abdussalam) 31-12-2013 20:36 |
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar