TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo said the restoration of the Kota Tua area still awaits the formation of the Special Economy Zone for Kota Tua area. But the governer explained he already had a vision of how the area would be in the future.

“We will show the plans within the next six months, the examples, the restoration, and the reconstruction,” he said at the City Hall in Central Jakarta on Wednesday, September 4, 2013.

The former furniture businessman said his administration would beautify the area in the next six months. “We will fix the lighting of the beautiful houses and replant the area.”

The city administration plans to reorganize the 150-hectare area, beginning from the Fatahillah Park to the Sunda Kelapa harbor. “We already have the master plan. I will try to realize it, give some examples, as soon as possible. The others will follow,” the graduate of the Forestry Faculty of Gadjah Mada University said.

The governor said he was surprised at the poor conditions of the Kota Tua area whereas master plans for its renovation had existed for long. “They’ve been there for tens of years. So many plans but none was executed.”

When asked about the street vendors in the area, the governor said he was upbeat his administration would handle them well. “That’s not a problem. We already did that with thousands of vendors,” he laughed.

LINDA TRIANITA