VIVAnews – Kemayoran is a district in Central Jakarta. Today, it is a commercial and residential area. Jakarta’s major annual trade fair, Pekan Raya Jakarta, is still being held annually in the area.
However, many who stroll down the malls, drive down the road or live in the apartments, may not be aware of the history behind it. The origin of Kemayoran’s name stems from the airport that used to be there.
Kemayoran airport was Jakarta’s and Indonesia’s first international airport. It was gradually forgotten after the Indonesian government opened two new airports, Halim Perdanakusuma and Soekarno-Hatta.
Kemayoran airport was even more forgotten after the government shutdown its operations in 1985. Nevertheless, Kemayoran will forever remain part of the Indonesian aviation history. It is a silent witness to various types of civilian and military aircrafts, from pistons, turboprop to jet engines.
In late 1920’s early 1930’s the Dutch turned the area into an airport and built several military camps to house their soldiers at what is now Garuda Street. “Prior to the construction of the airport, it had no name,” said Haji Abdul Rasyid (76) to VIVAnews. “They just called it Kampung Utan (forest village) because it used to be mostly forest,” he added.
The great majority of the soldiers were who were in the military camps were majors (mayor in Indonesian). “Naturally, when the locals who worked in the area were asked where they were headed to, they would simply answer, ‘We’re going to the majors’ place,’ and to make it simple, they would say to ‘Kemayoran,’ [‘ke’ meaning ‘to’ or ‘towards’],” said Rasyid.
As time passes, people began to call the area Kemayoran. “Since then, the airport area was known as Kemayoran,” said Rasyid.
However, another version tells the story of a certain individual, Major de Saint Martin who served with the Dutch East Indies Company (VOC) in the 17th century. He was born Isaac de I’ Ostale de Saint Martin,in Oleron, Bearn, France, in 1629.
In 1662, De Saint Martin, who was then a lieutenant, was involved in the war in Coching. Later, he was promoted to major. It was as a major that he was involved in the battles in Central and East Java when VOC assisted Mataram in putting down Trunojoyo’s rebellion.
In March 1682, he and Captain Tack were assigned by the VOC to assist Sultan Haji in fighting the latter’s own father, Sultan Ageng Tirtayasa. In the midst of the war, he came into conflict with Captain Jonker. When the war was over, he tried to persuade his superiors to exile Jonker. As a result, Jonker took up arms against the VOC but was subsequently put down.
Kemayoran airport was officially opened for international flights on 8 July 1940. The airport was managed by KNILM (Koninklijke Nederlands Indische Luchtvaart Maatschappy), a subsidiary of KLM, the official airline of the Netherlands.
As the construction began, inhabitants were told to move. “In 1935, they told my family to leave the area. I used to live fairly near the airport, especially its old departure terminal,” said Abdul Rasyid who has 19 grandchildren.
The airport could only handle small airplanes, such as Dakota (with a capacity of 60 passengers) and only a few could enjoy such luxury. “Back then, only few people could afford to travel by air. They were mostly Dutch and local dignitaries,” he said.
According to Abdul Rasyid, Kemayoran Airport was officially closed on 31 March 1985 because the location was deemed no longer appropriate, and the government wanted to convert it into a commercial area.
Despite being shut down, at first the airport and its facilities, which occupied an area of 454 hectares, were left intact. Later, the area was turned it into commercial and residential areas. Today, Jakarta’s major annual trade fair, Pekan Raya Jakarta, is still being held annually in the area.
Abdul Rasyid would reminisce whenever he looks at the former air traffic control building and the departure terminal which have managed to survive despite being surrounded by so many commercial and residential buildings.
“We could only remember the major’s legacy through these two buildings,” he said.
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