Council protests supermarket project

Council protests supermarket project

BEKASI: Bekasi City Council speaker Rahmat Efendy said on
Wednesday the council had demanded that Mayor Akhmad Zurfaih
immediately suspend the development of a Makro & Carry
supermarket in Margajaya.

The council reportedly objected because no environmental
impact assessment was performed for the project.

Rahmat added that the supermarket was also being built on
disputed land.

"The mayor backed the project by issuing a recommendation
letter. Therefore, we demand the mayor cancel his recommendation
as well as suspend the ongoing project."

The chairman of the council's Commission C overseeing
financial affairs, Lilik Hariyoso, said the 21,277 square meters
of land being used for the project was claimed by both city water
supplier Perum Jasa Tirta II and local residents.

Perum Jasa Tirta II received the property after it was
procured by the public works department in 1959.

Residents staged a rally three weeks ago to protest the
projects, which they could also cause flooding in the area.

Environmentalist Benny Tunggul Hasiholan said the project had
the potential to cause flooding because the proposed supermarket
would be on higher ground than the surrounding neighborhoods. --
Antara