The maintenance or conservation process of the Dirgantara Statue Monument on Gatot Subroto Street RT/RW (Neighborhood/Hamlet) 02/01 Menteng Dalam Village, Tebet, South Jakarta, carried out by the DKI Jakarta Provincial Cultural Department, is targeted to be completed in November.

Head of Jakarta Cultural Department, Iwan Henry Wardhana, said, technically, the maintenance activities have been carried out by the Management Unit (UP) of the Cultural Heritage Conservation Center since last Saturday (27/9). Conservation activities are under the mandate of Law No. 11/2010 on Cultural Heritage regarding maintenance.

"The Dirgantara Statue Monument is one of Jakarta's landmarks. This maintenance is an effort to preserve or save Cultural Heritage Objects that have historical value to the development of Jakarta and civilization," he expressed on Sunday (10/8).

He explained that the Dirgantara Statue Monument was made with bronze metal in 1965 by sculptor Edhi Sunarso as a guide or marker in the Pancoran area to make it easier for everyone to find their way to the place to be visited. The statue refers to the direction of Kemayoran, which at that time had an airport.

The Dirgantara Statue Monument has a height of 11 meters and weighs about 11 tons. In contrast, the concrete-cast pole has a height of 27 meters and a pole length of about 36 meters.

Previously, the Dirgantara Statue Monument was conserved in September 2014. However, natural factors such as pollutants, humidity, temperature fluctuations, light, and algae resulted in the degradation of the statue and its pillar in the form of corrosion, stains, and color fading.

"That's why we try to clean, repair, preserve, and protect them. The aim is to overcome and control the damage process so that the maintenance condition is guaranteed," he said.

The treatment, said Iwan, is carried out by paying attention to conservation principles such as historical and archaeological values, minimal intervention, metal patina should not be damaged by the conservation process, and conservation materials must be effective, efficient, and safe both for conservation implementers, conserved objects, and the surrounding environment.

Conservation handling also includes documenting the condition before, during, and after conservation.

This conservation activity received support from various parties, such as the Air Force 1st Air Corps Information Office, the Police, and related agencies within the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government.

"The target is to finish in early November. The successful conservation of the Dirgantara Statue Monument is a form of Jakarta's success for Indonesia," he stated.

Source: beritajakarta.id