THE first thing that strikes you about Jakarta's Kali Besar district, a proposed tourist zone in the heart of the city's old town, is the unbearable smell of raw sewage.
This comes from the watercourse that gives the area its name (in English, Big Canal). Originally built by the Dutch to remind them of Amsterdam, it has for years been little more than a murky mosquito farm.
But once upwind, one can quickly see what all the fuss is about - the magnificent architecture on either side of the canal is straight out of the old Dutch era.
The two-year-old Kali Besar improvement programme is part of a joint venture involving the city administration and private enterprise.
Its aim is to revitalise the decrepit Kota district, the oldest part of the city located in the north, off the Java Sea.
The plans reflect a new pride in Jakarta. After nearly 20 years of solid growth, the city can finally afford to address its reputation as a place of hellish traffic jams.
