The Jogja Heritage Society is preparing a set of guidelines for the  rebuilding of Yogyakarta's Kotagede old city, which was devastated in  the powerful earthquake that struck the area last May 27, writes Sri  Wahyuni, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta, National News - June 15, 2007 at http://www.thejakartapost.com/.

During a seminar held here Wednesday, the heritage society discussed  the planned revitalization of the Kotagede Heritage District, which  houses in its narrow streets silverworks, traditional buildings and  other cultural treasures of the city.One of the steps the  heritage community plans is to issue conservation manuals to home and  building owners in the district.

"This is a crucial time for  Kotagede. Unless something is done, it is feared the city''s heritage  will vanish forever," heritage society director Titi Handayani told The  Jakarta Post.The earthquake that rocked Yogyakarta and parts of  Central Java last year damaged or destroyed most of the buildings in  Kotagede, including many of the traditional joglo-roofed houses.Titi  said a recent survey by the heritage society found more than 100 joglo  buildings, each of which originally functioned as the front hall of a  housing compound, suffered extensive damage in the quake.

"That  figure is only from Jagalan, one of three villages in the district,"  said Titi.She said the other two villages were Prenggan and  Purbayan. Jagalan is under the jurisdiction of Banguntapan district in  Bantul regency, while Prenggan and Purbayan are in Kotagede district in  Yogyakarta municipality.Titi said one of the problems faced in  rebuilding the heritage district was, ironically, the compensation funds  given by the government to the owners of damaged houses.Owners  of heavily damaged or destroyed houses receive Rp 15 million (US$1,650)  to Rp 20 million in assistance from the government.

This level of  funding, Titi said, is insufficient to rebuild heritage homes properly.She  said in one case a former pendopo, a large open structure in front of a  traditional joglo-roofed home, was simply turned into a bathroom.Titi  said some owners were selling teakwood joglo roofs more than 100 years  old for as little as Rp 40 million, and then using the money to build  modern houses."With the new guidelines we are preparing,  hopefully, homeowners will have a guide that will help them reconstruct  or renovate their houses.

"Another heritage society member,  Laretna Adishakti, said to make the guidelines effective a binding  regulation was needed."But only the respective local governments  can pass necessary regulations," said Laretna.She reminded  authorities that Kotagede was announced earlier this month by the World  Monuments Fund as one of the 100 most endangered heritage sites in the  world.To help save Kotagede, Titi said, the heritage society had  introduced two programs: "foster parents" and heritage investment.

Through  the "foster parent" programs, individual or group donors are encouraged  to help rebuild damaged joglo houses.The heritage investment  program encourages investors to preserve traditional buildings and turn  them into commercial sites such as hotels, restaurants and boutiques."We  are currently rebuilding four joglo houses with funding from the  Netherlands government," said Titi.The guidelines for preserving  houses in Kotagede, she said, were drawn up with funding by the Saudi  Arabia government, through the UNESCO office in Jakarta.She said  the guidelines were drawn up only after a host of field studies and  workshops involving the community were held."We plan to launch  the guidelines by the end of July," Titi said.

--(Source: www.developmentfromdisasters.net)