City development yet to heed environment

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Public officials have admitted that the policy on development in the capital was merely based on economic development and in neglect of the environment, which must be protected and maintained in order to achieve sustainable development.

"We've seen many breaches of the city planning blueprint, where open spaces used as water catchment areas have been converted into business zones, such as malls," said Gempur Adnan, a deputy at the office of the State Minister for the Environment.

"Therefore, there should be a mechanism of communication between the people, the administration and businesspeople to reach a win-win solution where economic development and environmental preservation can be achieved hand-in-hand."

He was speaking at a discussion held Thursday as part of the 2003 Indonesian Environment Week exhibition at the Jakarta Convention Center, which opened on the same day. The discussion revolved around the government's latest campaign: "My city is clean and green".

Gempur's statement soon met with a response from Johan Silas, an urban planning expert from the Surabaya Institute of Technology. Silas said there should be no compromising with any development plans that had a potential to damage the environment.

Referring to the experience of the Surabaya people when businesspeople tried to turn the town's open space into a building complex, Silas said, "No need to seek a win-win solution, because we should not care about the financial losses of the businesspeople. A good environment is a must. No compromise on that."

The discussion also touched upon the Jakarta administration's reluctance to proceed with a project to reclaim 2,700 hectares of the northern coastal area, despite opposition from the office of the State Minister for Environment, along with experts and activists.

The reclaimed land from the project, which will be managed by the Jakarta Waterfront City Management (PB Pantura), would be allocated toward luxury houses, hotels, condominiums, industrial zones, ports, business centers, mega shopping malls, offices, seaports and recreation areas.

The project, the discussion participants pointed out, was a glaring example of the neglect of environmental issues.

The latest analysis on the environmental impact of the project reported that it would raise the sea level by about 12 centimeters and damage the marine ecosystem because of the great amount of sand needed for the project. It also said that pollution around Kepulauan Seribu regency would increase and spark social strife, as thousands of fishermen living in the area would lose their source of income.

Wicaksono Sarosa of the Urban and Regional Development Institute (URDI), a non-governmental organization, said it was pertinent to revitalize Jakarta's northern coastal area, which had suffered from erosion and pollution.

"To reach sustainable development, there are three main concerns: the environmental, the economic and the social issues. The reclamation is not necessary, because it would only further damage the environment, not only in the coastal area but also here in the center of the capital and surrounding areas," Wicaksono remarked. House of Representatives legislator Tunggul Sirait also shared Wicaksono's opinion.

Meanwhile, the chairman of the environment sub-commission at the House suggested agropolitan development, which may lower the number of migrants to Jakarta -- instead of reclaiming land, which is aimed at increasing dwelling space.