Reclamation project jinxed from the outset<\/p>\n
The Jakarta City administration's plan to reclaim part of the
\nJakarta Bay for commercial projects has sparked controversy. The
\nJakarta Post's reporters Bambang Nurbianto and Tertiani ZB
\nSimanjuntak look into the issue.<\/p>\n
Jakarta has witnessed rapid development in the last three
\ndecades, making it increasingly more difficult and expensive to
\nacquire land for development.<\/p>\n
Reclamation of the city's northern coastal areas, as a result,
\nwas deemed the right move to provide new land for development
\nprojects.<\/p>\n
Since the 1990s, the Soeharto administration had been pursuing
\nthe project to reclaim about 2,700 hectares of sea along the 32-
\nkilometer northern coast.<\/p>\n
To legalize the project, Soeharto then issued Decree No.
\n52\/1995 on the implementation of the reclamation on July 13,
\n1995, followed by the issuance of Bylaw No. 8\/1995 by the City
\nCouncil on Oct. 6.<\/p>\n
The project has been controversial since the very beginning.
\nThe general public, especially activists and environmentalists,
\nhave opposed it, saying that it would only bring about
\nenvironmental and social damage.<\/p>\n
But nobody dared oppose Soeharto at that time. And former
\nminister of environment Sarwono Kusumaatmadja had to agree to it
\nand issued an Environmental Impact Analysis (Amdal), which gave
\nthe green light for the implementation of the project.<\/p>\n
Fortunately, the project did not materialize at the time
\nbecause of the economic crisis which hit the country at the end
\nof 1997 and the downfall of the former authoritarian president
\nSoeharto in May 1998.<\/p>\n
But now, Governor Sutiyoso has revived the project, saying
\nthat property development in the east, west, and south had
\nreached its limit.<\/p>\n
\"It (reclamation) is the only way for the city to expand land
\nwhich is badly needed to support the fast growing city,\" argued
\nSutiyoso.<\/p>\n
The governor, as well as city officials, have used almost
\nevery occasion possible to introduce the project.
\nThey often mentioned the bad condition of the coastal areas,
\nincluding the slums and poor facilities.<\/p>\n
They said if the reclamation project was implemented, the area
\nwould be converted into modern facilities like exclusive houses,
\ncondominiums, hotels, office buildings and other elite commercial
\nfacilities.<\/p>\n
In the whimsical imaginings of Sutiyoso, Jakarta's northern
\ncoastal area would be like other world class waterfront cities
\nlike Singapore, Tokyo, Osaka, Hong Kong and Sydney.<\/p>\n
But again, the project sparked protests from the public,
\nparticularly activists and environmentalists. They said that it
\nwould certainly cause serious damage to the surrounding
\nenvironment and residents.<\/p>\n
First, the project would cause seawater levels to rise another
\n12 centimeters resulting in floods.<\/p>\n
Second, it would spark social conflict as thousands of
\nfishermen from Kamal Muara, Muara Angke, Muara Baru and Kampung
\nLuar Batang would lose their source of income.<\/p>\n
Third, it would damage the marine ecosystem as some 330
\nmillion cubic meters of sand would be needed to reclaim the land.<\/p>\n
And fourth, it would worsen pollution around the Kepulauan
\nSeribu (Thousand Islands) regency due to activities caused by the
\nreclamation process and the utilization of the reclaimed land.<\/p>\n
When the issue became a public debate in early 1995, Sarwono
\nrevealed the project would also compound the impact of global
\nwarming, which had caused the melting of ice at the poles.<\/p>\n
The melting of the polar caps has resulted in a rise in sea
\nlevels, including in the Jakarta straits, where many small
\nislands, including Air Kecil, Payung Kecil, Ubi Besar, Ubi Kecil,
\nDapur, and Gosong Pebelokan, have submerged.<\/p>\n
\"More islands in the area will disappear if the project is
\nimplemented,\" he said at that time.<\/p>\n
\"It is a violation of environmental principles,\" Longgena
\nGinting of the Indonesian Forum for Environment (Walhi) said when
\nmeeting House Commission VIII for environment affairs recently.<\/p>\n
It seems that debate surrounding the reclamation plan may not
\nend in the near future as the battle between the two opposing
\nparties becomes more heated.<\/p>\n
It all started in February when State Minister for the
\nEnvironment Nabiel Makarim issued Decree No. 14\/2003 to reject
\nthe project. He also demanded that President Megawati
\nSoekarnoputri revoke Presidential Decree No. 52\/1995, which
\nbecame the legal basis for the project.<\/p>\n
Even though Nabiel said that the decree was final, the city
\nadministration has made every effort to revive the project.<\/p>\n
Governor Sutiyoso and his officials were upset after learning
\nabout the decree and in response to it, made an emotional
\nstatement, saying that he would ignore it. He argued that based
\non regional autonomy law, the project could be implemented
\nwithout the minister's approval.<\/p>\n
The decree has sent city officials, scurrying to find reasons
\nand justifications to make the giant project possible.<\/p>\n
The city administration worked in cooperation with the
\nUniversity of Indonesia's Research Center for Applied Geography
\nto organize a public debate, which, according to several
\nenvironmentalists, was only meant to justify the project.<\/p>\n
Representatives of the organizations that launched strong
\nopposition to the project, such as Walhi and the Indonesian
\nCenter for Environmental Law (ICEL), were not invited to the
\nevent.<\/p>\n
The city administration also planned to take Nabiel's decree
\nto the State Administrative Court. The city administration and BP
\nPantura sought a court decision to overturn the decree, but they
\nlater canceled the plan after realizing that they did not have
\nthe right to sue Nabiel.<\/p>\n
According to Law No. 5\/1986 on the State Administrative Court,
\na lawsuit can only be filed by an individual or group who has
\ndirectly suffered from a written order or policy issued by the
\nauthorities or civil servants.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the deputy assistant for Amdal affairs to the state
\nminister of the environment, Karliansyah, insisted that the
\nminister's decision was final because it was based on the results
\nof a study on the environmental impact of the project.<\/p>\n
He said that the analysis did not present any solution to the
\nvarious social and environmental problems that could result from
\nthe project, therefore the document could no longer be used as a
\nreference to endorse the project.<\/p>\n
\"If the city administration wants to make a similar project
\nalong the northern coastal area of Jakarta, it should present a
\nnew analysis,\" said Karliansyah.<\/p>\n
And now, in an effort to seek legal grounds for the
\nreclamation plan, city officials are preparing a new analysis.
\nBut they insist that they will not seek the approval of the state
\nminister of the environment as they believe it only needs the
\nendorsement of the Regional Environmental Impact Management
\nAgency (Bapedalda), which is under the auspices of the governor.<\/p>",
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