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.