City administration will proceed with reclamation

City administration will proceed with reclamation

Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The city administration seems likely to proceed with a
controversial reclamation project along the northern coast after
an administration-organized panel discussion gave a green light
to the project on Friday, only proposing a few changes to the
environmental impact analysis (Amdal).

The one-day discussion stressed the need for the city
administration to respond to various concerns about the possible
impact of the reclamation of 2,700 hectares along the northern
coast.

Its recommendations included specific studies to prevent
environmental damage and to deal with the possible social and
economic impacts on local residents, as well as other measures
the city administration should take in pursuing the project.

The results of the seminar came as no surprise because most of
the discussion participants support the reclamation project.

The discussion, which the city administration billed as a
public debate, excluded outspoken critics who believe the project
will cause serious environmental damage.

Two environmental organizations -- the Indonesian Forum for
the Environment (Walhi) and the Indonesian Center for
Environmental Law (ICEL) -- were excluded from the event, which
Governor Sutiyoso had promised would involve those from both
sides of the debate on the project.

Although organizers claimed representatives of the
organizations were invited to the meeting, officials of the two
organizations denied having received an invitation.

"There was no invitation to the seminar on reclamation this
week," the chairman of Walhi's Jakarta chapter, Slamet Daroyni,
told The Jakarta Post on Friday. A similar statement came from an
ICEL executive.

Most of the participants of the panel discussion, organized by
the Research Center for Applied Geography at the University of
Indonesia for the city administration, were representatives of
potential investors in the project and officials from the city
administration and other government agencies.

Despite the panel discussion's apparent green light,
Karliansyah, an official from the Office of the State Minister
for the Environment, said the reclamation project was not
feasible.

"The environmental minister's decree rejecting the reclamation
project is final as it was made based on the Amdal proposed for
the project," he said.

The chairman of the Environmental Task Force (ETF), Ahmad
"Puput" Syafruddin, slammed the organizers of the event for
excluding outspoken project critics, saying that it demonstrated
the city administration's decision not to involve those opposed
to the project in a public debate.

"The event was designed to justify the city administration's
desire to go ahead with the project, as outspoken figures were
excluded from the event," said Puput, who is also a former
chairman of the Walhi Jakarta chapter.

State Minister for the Environment Nabiel Makarim's Decree No.
14/2003 rejecting the project was based on the recommendations of
the central commission studying the environmental impact
analysis, which was a reworking of an Amdal proposed by the
Waterfront City Management Body.

The central commission found that the reclamation project was
not environmentally or socially feasible.

According to the commission, the reclamation project would
cause sea levels to rise by 12 centimeters, which could worsen
flooding in northern areas of the city.

It also said the project could spark social conflict because
thousands of fishermen in the northern coastal areas, including
Kamal Muara, Muara Angke, Muara Baru and Kampung Luar Batang,
would lose their livelihoods.

Third, it would damage the sea's ecosystem because some 330
million cubic meters of sand would be needed for the reclamation
project. And fourth it would worsen pollution around the Thousand
Islands due to activities during reclamation work and during the
utilization of the reclaimed land.