Amdal team to summon Bira developer
Amdal team to summon Bira developer
JAKARTA (JP): Deputy governor for development affairs Idroes
ordered yesterday an environmental impact analysis (Amdal) team
to summon executives of PT Pulau Seribu Paradise, the developer
of a golf course on Bira Island in North Jakarta.
"The team must summon the developer and its consulting firm to
explain to them the progress of the Amdal on Bira Island," Idroes
told reporters at his office yesterday.
To ensure that development will not produce unwanted effects
on the surrounding environment an Amdal is mandatory for all
developers.
On Tuesday, the governor was urged by city councillors to take
action over Bira Island following an expression of concern by
President Soeharto regarding environmental destruction
reportedly occurring on the island. The President underlined the
importance of rejuvenating the environment and called for stern
action against the developer if it refused to abide by existing
regulations.
"We fully support the deputy governor's ordering the Amdal
commission to summon the executives of PT Pulau Seribu Paradise
and PT Consartha Indomatra, the developer's consulting firm," H.
Lukman F. Mokoginta, the chairman of the Jakarta branch of the
Indonesian Democratic Party, said yesterday.
"It is important that we have facts about the condition of
Bira Island directly from the commission, the developer and its
consulting firm," he added.
Aboejoewoono Aboeprajitno, head of the city's environment
office and also the secretary of Amdal commission, said that
this month the commission would announce the findings of the
Amdal study concerning the extent of the destruction of the
island.
He said that an independent consulting firm assigned to check
the water condition of the island had been slow in carrying out
the task.
"An Amdal study involves physical and socio-economic analysis.
In the physical analysis, the analysis is concerned with the
condition of flora and fauna on the island. The social and
economic analysis concerns the impact of the development on the
people living on the island. So if the commission has several
times turned down the Amdal study of Bira Island there must be
manipulation of the data," Lukman said.
Last February, the city administration's commission on
environment impact turned down the developer's Bira Island Amdal
for the third time.
Under the current regulations, the developer must set aside 40
percent of the island for natural flora. Instead of abiding by
the rules, the developer built a golf course on Bira Island and
developed a plot of land for flora on nearby Panjang Island.
Lukman said the problem on Bira Island, a member of the Seribu
group of islands could not be solved in the same way as problems
occurring on, for example, the island of Java.
Last week State Minister of Environment Sarwono Kusumatmadja
instructed PT Pulau Seribu Paradise to carry out an environmental
audit on the island.
He also asked the developer to revive those parts of the
island, which serve as water catchment areas and to increase the
island's bio-diversity.(31)