Starting from Soekarno who wanted Indonesia to have an amusement park. The Ancol project made this happen by transforming swamp areas and shrubs.
The above photo courtesy of gettyimages.com dated June 4, 1956, shows President Soekarno and Guntur Soekarno Putra, who was then 12 years old, driving a Dumbo, one of the most exciting rides at Disneyland, United States. During that visit, almost a year after the amusement park opened, Sukarno enjoyed and showed the same enthusiasm as his son.
Soekarno visited Disneyland, Hollywood, and other entertainment venues during a three-week tour in the United States. This is where Soekarno wanted Indonesia to have a similar amusement park. When there was a proposal to turn the swampy and scrubby Ancol area into an industrial area, Soekarno rejected it. He wanted to fulfill his dream, to build the area as a tourist attraction.
According to Sugianto Sastrosoemarto and Budiono in Traces of Soekardjo Hardjosoewirjo at Taman Impian Jaya Ancol, since the 17th century, Ancol has become a tourist area. At that time, Ancol was a beautiful and clean beach area. There stood many rest houses of the Dutch elite. Even the 25th Governor General of the Dutch East Indies Adrian Valckenier (1737-1741) had a large rest house with a large garden.
The situation changed when malaria hit Batavia in the early 19th century. Ancol was not spared from malaria attacks. The Dutch didn't even dare to visit, let alone live, there.
Jakarta historian, Alwi Shahab writes that the abandoned Ancol became a thicket of forest and a monkey nest. At night, the area becomes a place for masher men and commercial sex workers. Wealthy playboy Oey Asia and a number of other rich people often have fun there. They have a Sophia or pleasure house called Bintang Mas. It is said that Oey killed a girl in one of his villas.
“The girl is identified as Ariah who disappeared around 1870/1871. She died and her body disappeared, after refusing to be raped. He later became known as 'The Sweet Ancol Bridge'...," Alwi wrote in "Recreation at the Monkey's Nest," which was published by Republika, on October 30, 2005.
During the Japanese occupation, Ancol was used as a place of execution and a mass grave for those who opposed the Japanese army. On September 14, 1946, the victims were adequately re-buried at the Ancol Cemetery. The cemetery contains more than 2,000 victims, many of whom are unnamed.
After Indonesia's independence, Jakarta began to improve. Ancol, which was previously often referred to as a place where “children throw away jinn”, was transformed into a tourist area through a Presidential Decree regarding the Ancol Project Development Committee and Government Regulation No. 51 of 1960. Soekarno appointed DKI Jakarta Governor Soemarno Sosroatmodjo as the executor of the Ancol Project development.
“Marno, as a leader, you must be able to think about what you can do for your people fifty years from now. You have to be able to imagine what your people, the people of Jakarta, need. Not for the next year or two, but the next fifty, or a hundred years. How can you provide a place that can make the people of Jakarta happy so that residents can enjoy the fresh air of the sea, can see the joy of children playing on the beach, and be touched by the crashing of the waves, and the breezy breeze." That was Soekarno's message to Soemarno which was recorded in Soekardjo's memory.
Soekardjo Hardjosoewirjo was a person who played an important role in the early stages of the realization of the Ancol Project. He drafted presidential letters regarding the Ancol Project development committee; taking care of the completeness of paperwork related to law, budgeting, and studying and completing organizational files for the implementation of the Ancol Project. After a month of working behind a desk at the DKI Jakarta Regional Government office, he was assigned as a field implementer to prepare for the construction of the Ancol Project.
Even though it was handed over to the Regional Government of DKI Jakarta, the project has become a national program because it is part of the modernization of Jakarta as the nation's capital. But the Ancol Project is a mandatory project, whose funding does not burden the state or regional budget. It is a self-propelling project or in Javanese terms, it is called the "poor duck project".
To meet the funding needs, the project relies on loans from the private sector. Because the domestic contractor did not meet the criteria from a technical point of view, let alone financing, work on the Ancol Project was offered to a foreign contractor. Proposals were provided to the United States, Japan, and France. The choice finally fell on the contractor from France, Compagnie Industriale de Travaux (Citra).
Citra is only working on the first phase of construction: filling in swamps, ponds, and scrub forests with approximately 12.5 million cubic meters of material, as well as acquiring 552 hectares of land. The first phase of construction was completed in February 1966.
“It was very fortunate that when the G30S (30 September 1965 Movement) tragedy erupted, the first phase of stockpiling was almost complete. If when the G30S erupted the first phase of this project had not been completed, it is certainly hard to imagine what would have happened," wrote Sugianto and Budiono.
When the political and economic situation gradually improved, the Ancol Project was continued under the leadership of DKI Governor Ali Sadikin, Soemarno's replacement. The construction of Ancol was carried out by PD Pembangunan Jaya. Ciputra as CEO of PT Pembangunan Jaya proposed the concept of development and development of the Ancol area to Ali Sadikin.
"Make Ancol on a par with America's Disneyland," said Ali Sadikin to Ciputra in Ciputra Quantum Leap.
According to Hermawan Kertajaya, Disneyland was approached to build one of its theme parks in Jakarta. But the effort was not successful.
"Even the name cannot be used, even if for example, they don't spend any money on the theme park being built in Jakarta," Hermawan wrote in 100 Corporate Marketing Cases.
Even though they refused, Disneyland opened itself up for Indonesia to learn. When they were about to build Dunia Fantasi (Dufan), the entire Ancol team of architects and technicians was sent to America to see and learn about Disneyland. "It's just that Ancol doesn't imitate Disneyland, but develops its own Indonesian-style fantasies and creations," said Soekardjo as quoted by Sugianto and Budiono.
Ancol continues to develop various Indonesian-flavored recreational rides. This is what is interesting and distinguishes Ancol from the mainstream of world tourism which tends to be Western. However, Ancol is no less than similar amusement parks in the world.
"Currently, Ancol is a tourist area that is included in the top five largest entertainment tourism areas in the world... Ancol is only beaten by Disneyland and Disney World," said Ciputra in the Ciputra Quantum Leap. Sukarno's desire for a tourist object to become the pride of the nation was realized.
