Analysts slam Sutiyoso's insistence on reclamation<\/p>\n
Damar Harsanto and Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post,
\nJakarta<\/p>\n
Environmental analysts blasted on Wednesday Governor Sutiyoso's
\ninsistence to go ahead with a reclamation project in the northern
\ncoastal area of Jakarta, saying that he showed no sensitivity to
\nthe ecological problems that would ensue.<\/p>\n
Rully Besari Budiyanti of Trisakti University said many
\nleaders in the city and elsewhere in the country only focused on
\neconomic development while ignoring the environmental impact.<\/p>\n
"Before the development project is implemented, decisionmakers
\nshould calculate the impact it will have on the environment, as
\nthe ecological damage would mean serious consequences for
\nresidents. Unfortunately, that aspect is often ignored," Rully
\ntold The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
She said the most serious impact resulting from the
\nreclamation project would be the disappearance of various species
\nfrom along the coastal area, which is an ecological transition
\npoint between the land and the sea.<\/p>\n
The loss of plankton, for example, would cause all kinds of
\nmarine life to seek food elsewhere and would indirectly affect
\nfishermen, who depend on fish to make a living.<\/p>\n
Another environmental analyst, Marco Kusumawijaya, agreed with
\nRully, stressing that the city administration should not ignore
\nthe environmental impact analysis, conducted by the State
\nMinistry of the Environment.<\/p>\n
"People should not get confused over the differences between
\nthe ministry and the city administration as they have no adequate
\ninformation about the issue," Marco told the Post on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
He said perhaps there was technology that could be applied to
\nminimize the risks faced by residents if the project was
\nimplemented, but the lack of discipline amid city leaders in
\nmanaging that technology would be another problem.<\/p>\n
"Based on past experience, the city has been managed with a
\nlack of discipline, full of deception, therefore people are
\nworried that this project will pose high risks to them," he said,
\nadding that many Jakartans were still haunted by the annual
\nfloods.<\/p>\n
The environmental and social problems contained in the
\nenvironmental analysis include an increase in the sea level,
\nthousands of fishermen being out of work, damage being done to
\nthe ocean's ecosystem and worsening pollution around the
\nKepulauan Seribu (Thousand Islands) regency.<\/p>\n
Rully and Marco were commenting on Sutiyoso's statements on
\nWednesday that he would go ahead with reclaiming over 5,000
\nhectares even though the results of an environmental impact
\nanalysis by the State Ministry of the Environment stressed that
\nthe project was not feasible.<\/p>\n
"The reclamation plan is simply inevitable amid the rapid
\ngrowth in the city's population. The capital is overcrowded, not
\nto mention that there is a mass influx of people, between 200,000
\nand 250,000, each year," Sutiyoso said in a meeting with some
\nmembers of the Supreme Advisory Council (DPA).<\/p>\n
Sutiyoso argued that his administration could not develop
\nareas that border with other mayoralties or regencies, such as
\nBogor, Depok or Tangerang, owing to their different interests and
\nthat they are under the administration of other provinces.<\/p>\n
"In addition, my administration will go ahead with this plan
\nas we have completed all the requirements, including the
\nenvironmental impact analysis," said Sutiyoso.<\/p>\n
It was the second statement the governor made this week about
\ngoing ahead with the reclamation project. The first statement he
\nmade came after he installed several senior city officials on
\nMonday.<\/p>",
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