I'm the One behind Soekarno and Hatta Streets, Jokowi Says
3 September 2013 17:20 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo said he was the first one proposing to change the names of two thoroughfares around the National Monument to Jl. Soekarno and Jl. Hatta.
“I already mentioned that the names of both national leaders were worth being immortalized ,” Jokowi said at the City Hall on Tuesday, September 3, 2013.
He said the proposal aimed at honoring the services of the two independence proclaimers. He also said it would be best if one thoroughfare was named after one of the heroes rather than both combined.
Responding to the other proposals to change the names of streets around the monument to Jl. Soeharto and Jl. Ali Sadikin, the governor said he did not know where the ideas came from. He also refused to comment on the proposals, adding that he was still awaiting decisions from the Committee 17 ( Panitia 17).
The governor also dismissed rumors that the proposal to name the streets after Soekarno and Hatta came from Megawati Soekarnoputri, chief of his party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).
“It’s not true. That’s my own initiative ,” he said.
The government-sanctioned Committee 17 plans to change the names of Jl. Merdeka Utara to Jl. Bung Karno, Jl. Merdeka Selatan to Jl. Bung Hatta, Jl. Merdeka Timur to Jl. Ali Sadikin, and Jl. Merdeka Barat to Jl. Soeharto on November 10, 2013.
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