Council suggests end to reclamation work

Council suggests end to reclamation work

Multa Fidrus, Tangerang

Tangerang Regency Council Commission D for development affairs
has recommended the regency administration stop a land
reclamation project near Dadap beach in Kosambi district in
response to allegations of environmental damage caused by the
work.

The recommendation was made after the commission held a
hearing with the regency spatial and building layout agency, the
tourism agency and the maritime and fisheries agency on Saturday.

Council chairman Dadang Kartasasmita said on Tuesday he
supported the commission's recommendation.

"The reclamation project has had a negative impact on local
fishermen and damaged the environment. Many fishermen have lost
their jobs and have had to become scavengers to survive. The
mangrove forest has been destroyed, marine life has gone extinct
and the natural beauty of the beach is gone," he said.

Dadang also said the two companies involved in the reclamation
project had violated regulations by beginning the project without
first obtaining the required permits from the administration.

The head of the regency's public order agency, Doddy Bastaman,
said he would deploy officers to the site of the project to halt
work following the council's recommendation.

During the hearing, officials from the three agencies said the
two companies -- PT Koperasi Pasir Putih, which plans to build a
five-hectare tourist resort on the reclaimed land, and PT Parung
Harapan, which plans to construct an upscale housing estate and a
warehouse complex on another five hectares of land -- claimed
they had obtained the necessary documents, including an
environmental impact analysis, which is necessary before any
construction can take place.

Jhoni Ramly, an official from PT Koperasi Pasir Putih, said
the company had complied with all of the required procedures,
including in the permit application process and the reclamation
work.

He was optimistic the permits, which he said were now being
processed, would be completed soon.

"We intend to invest in the long term. The reclamation is
legal because the project was approved through a decree signed by
former regent Agus Djunara," he said.

According to Jhoni, the construction of the recreational and
tourist resorts on the reclaimed land would increase the
regency's revenue.

"We reclaimed the beach to build the resorts and we built a
dam there to prevent erosion," he said.