City reaches new depths as land use plan fails to sink in
City reaches new depths as land use plan fails to sink in
Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Environmentalists are telling the city administration to follow
the city's land use plan in order to check land subsidence in the
capital.
"Rampant violations of the land use plan only exacerbate
subsidence in the capital. Many new buildings are being
constructed in areas previously designated as green zones," Rino
Subagyo of the Indonesian Center for Environmental Law said on
Monday.
Rino was commenting on warnings from the City Mining Agency
that this city of 12 million people was sinking at an alarming
rate.
According to the mining agency, from 1999 to 2005 land in
North Jakarta sank by between two centimeters and eight
centimeters per year, West Jakarta by 2.2 centimeters, East
Jakarta by 1.3 centimeters to three centimeters, and South
Jakarta by two centimeters.
Rino said the city administration violated the current City
Master Plan by allowing the conversion of land along Jl. Melawai
in South Jakarta from residential areas to business zones.
Other violations include the construction of a sports mall in
Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta, the construction of several
commercial buildings in the Bung Karno sports complex in Senayan,
Central Jakarta, and the development of the Pantai Indah Kapuk
housing complex in North Jakarta, Rino said.
Environmentalist Ahmad Syafrudin said the administration
should respect land use regulations contained in the city's
master plan. He said the master plan should be the only reference
for issuing building permits.
"The city can control the construction of buildings if the
administration sticks to the master plan. Otherwise, building
construction will grow out of control and worsen land
subsidence," he told the Post.
He said the City Construction Supervision and Regulation
Agency should pay attention to the basic building coefficient
(KDB) of land in each area, in order to conserve underground
water.
The KDB is the area of a plot of land where a building stands.
"As you know, the majority of rainwater goes directly into
rivers and flows to the sea because the majority of Jakarta's
land has been covered with buildings and concrete constructions.
Meanwhile, water exploitation continues unabated," Ahmad said.
He said the city administration must ensure South Jakarta's
KDB was only 20 percent, meaning only 20 percent of the land
would be used for building construction.
He said keeping the KDB down in southern Jakarta was necessary
because this was a crucial water conservation area for the city.
Ahmad also urged the administration to construct as many water
reservoirs as possible, particularly in city-owned buildings, to
help conserve underground water.
"We must funnel all of the tax revenue from water back into
water conservation projects. The city must allocate more money
for water conservation if needed," he said.
According to the City Mining Agency, annual tax revenue from
underground water can reach Rp 52 billion. However, the city
allocated only Rp 250 million for the construction of water
reservoirs last year.