Council defends reclamation bill amid criticism
Council defends reclamation bill amid criticism
JAKARTA (JP): The city council has defended its decision to
approve a bill on a land-reclamation project in North Jakarta,
saying that the bill is designed to prevent damage to the
environment, including flooding.
Chairman of the Indonesian Democratic Party faction in the
council, Lukman F. Mokoginta, said yesterday that the bill, which
still requires the approval of the Minister of Home Affairs to
become law, clearly sets out the water arrangements for the site
earmarked for reclamation.
He said the city administration has an obligation to build
flood-control facilities, such as water ducts and sluice gates.
Deputy secretary of the ruling Golkar faction Nitra Arsyad
said people who are against the project are not well-informed.
"We accept criticisms, but it would be better if the critics
read the bill first, because it contains a formula for avoiding
negative effects of the project," Nitra said.
Referring to the harsh criticisms of the project made by
former deputy governor Bun Yamin Ramto over the weekend, Lukman
said he could understand the Bun Yamin's concern, but said that
the flooding foreshadowed by the former deputy governor would
only occur if the city administration failed to carry out its
flood control programs consistently.
"The city administration should implement its programs
consistently because, if it fails to do so, there is no doubt the
city will be sunk" Lukman said.
He said the programs consisted of river-normalization and
clean river projects; changing the popular habit of dumping
garbage into the rivers; the building of more dams; the
preservation of existing ponds; the intensification of the
reforestation program; controlling the use of artesian wells; and
intensifying the cooperation the city's surrounding areas.
Lukman said all the efforts are important, citing as an
example the clean river project, locally known as Prokasih, in
which the city administration is to clean and dredge all of
Jakarta's 13 rivers.
"Cooperation with the greater Jakarta area can control
development in southern Jakarta, which is an important area for
water catchment for the city," Lukman said.
The city administration has started a land-reclamation project
under which it plans to create a total of 2,700 hectares of new
land dry along the north coast of Jakarta.
The reclaimed land is to be divided into residential areas,
a central business district, a combination of industrial estates
and business areas, green areas, mangrove forest, port and
industrial areas. (yns)