Central government vows to fund Tangerang beach restoration

TANGERANG (JP): Central Government has promised to finance efforts to curb erosion on the 51-kilometer-long northern coast of Tangerang regency, the regency's environmental office chief Adil Darmawan said on Friday.

Without mentioning the amount of financial aid, Adil who is also chairman of a team in charge of preventing coastal erosion, said the aid would be taken from the additional budget of the 2001 State Budget.

"The erosion couldn't be financed by the regency's budget. So, we made a presentation about coastal erosion before the central government with the hope that they would help us prevent the phenomenon," Adil told reporters.

The presentation persuaded the concerned officials, who later made a pledge to lend a hand after the team met the Director for Coastal Planning at the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry Feriyanto Zais recently.

At least 70 percent of the coast suffers serious erosion, reaching between 100 meters and 150 meters inland, he said.

Residents of Mauk and Teluknaga districts are greatly affected by the erosion. The sea water has reached the area where 400 villagers of Tanjung Pasir, Teluknaga, live.

The erosion is believed to have been caused by illegal sand mining along the coast, the widespread usage of fishing ponds along the coast and the loss of mangrove forest.

Sand mining operations on the Seribu islands, which have been allowed by the Jakarta administration, are also believed to have accelerated the process of erosion on Tangerang's coast.

Small islands among the Thousands Islands, which were earlier reported to be disappearing because of sand mining, can no longer prevent sea waves from eating away at the north coast of Tangerang.

Adil said financial support to handle coastal erosion should initially be approved by the House of Representatives.

"Hopefully, at the latest, the aid could be disbursed in the third quarter of this year," Adil said.

He said central government would disburse the funds after the team completed the coastal plan.

He said the coastal plan, which is still being worked out, should include regulations on fishing harbor investment, mangrove forest conservation, tourism and current coastal erosion conditions. (41/jun)