Anthony Salim to join reclamation project<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Deputy Governor for Economic and Development
\nAffairs Tb.M. Rais said yesterday that Anthony Salim of the
\nwidely diversified Salim group would join the reclamation project
\nin the Jakarta Bay.<\/p>\n
A memorandum of understanding between Anthony, the group's
\nvice-president, and the city administration's North Jakarta
\nReclamation Implementation Board was signed Friday, he said.<\/p>\n
The signing ceremony was closed and officials would not talk
\nto the press about it.<\/p>\n
\"He proposed reclaiming 600 hectares in the northern part,\"
\nRais said at City Hall yesterday. He said that Anthony, tycoon
\nSudono Salim's son, had experience in reclamation projects.<\/p>\n
Rais said the municipality and the North Jakarta Reclamation
\nImplementation Board, which supervises the 2,700-hectare project,
\nwould study the proposal before signing a development agreement.<\/p>\n
Rais said he did not know how much Anthony would invest in the
\nproject. According to the plans, the project would consist of
\nresidential, business, recreational and tourist attractions
\nstretching 32 kilometers along the Jakarta Bay, from Pluit in the
\nwest to Cilincing in the east.<\/p>\n
The Salim group had earlier proposed reclaiming 4,000 hectares
\nof the Teluk Naga shoreline in Tangerang, West Java. The plan to
\ninclude tourism sites, a commercial area and fishing villages was
\napproved in 1995 by President Soeharto.<\/p>\n
The environmental impact study of the total planned area of
\n8,000 hectares is yet to be revealed.<\/p>\n
On Saturday councilor Djafar Badjeber of the United
\nDevelopment Party questioned a cooperation plan between the city
\nand private sector companies in the reclamation project.<\/p>\n
He said previous cooperations between the municipality and
\nprivate sectors had not been advantageous to the city.<\/p>\n
\"In prior cooperations, most of the policies were determined
\nby private sector companies instead of the municipality, even
\nthough the city had a large share,\" Djafar of Commission D for
\ndevelopment affairs said Saturday.<\/p>\n
He said the cooperation between the municipality and PT Jaya
\nAncol, in which 80 percent of the share belongs to the city was
\nan example. Jaya Ancol manages the Ancol Dreamland Park in North
\nJakarta.<\/p>\n
PT Pembangunan Jaya, which developed the park, is partially
\nowned by the city, which has a 40 percent share.<\/p>\n
\"PT Jaya Ancol and PT Pembangunan Jaya determined most of the
\npolicies and left the municipality behind,\" Djafar said.<\/p>\n
The city is often uninformed of new developments at the Park,
\nDjafar said.<\/p>\n
Company<\/p>\n
He urged officials to learn from experience before stepping
\ninto the cooperation for the reclamation project.<\/p>\n
The city has proposed a bill to form a company, under the
\nNorth Jakarta Reclamation Implementation Board, to set up joint
\nventures to carry out the project.<\/p>\n
\"The waterfront city project is a prestigious project and it
\nwill cost a lot. The project's plan looks good on paper but the
\nmost important thing is whether all the plans will work in
\nreality,\" Djafar said<\/p>\n
In this mass project, he said, the city should not be
\novertaken by the private sector.<\/p>\n
For instance, he said, the city should make sure the
\ndevelopers do not take building materials, such as sand, from the
\nSeribu Islands. Unchecked sand quarrying is a major environment
\nhazard in the Islands.<\/p>\n
The proposed company, tentatively called PT Pembangunan Pantai
\nUtara Jakarta, is to seek cooperation with third parties to
\ninvest in and manage different sectors under the project.<\/p>\n
In the proposed draft, the city would have a 99 percent share
\nin the company. The Korpri (Civil Servants Corps) Foundation
\nwould have the remaining 1 percent.<\/p>\n
A high-ranking official requesting anonymity said earlier, one
\nconstraint of the city in facing interests of the private sector
\nwas its lack of officials with adequate skills. \"We lack experts
\nwho can assess proposals,\" the source said.<\/p>\n
Councilors have also said the municipality faces pressures
\nfrom the central government and private parties.<\/p>\n
The source said the city is trying to cope with the constraint
\nby cooperating with university experts. (ste)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/anthony-salim-to-join-reclamation-project-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}