Councilor urges quarrying stopped

Councilor urges quarrying stopped

JAKARTA (JP): A city councilor urged the city administration
yesterday to take stern action against illegal sand quarrying
activities on the Thousand Islands, North Jakarta.

Saud Rachman, member of Commission D for development affairs,
made the appeal in response to the disappearance of six islands
in the chain of islands as a result of excessive sand quarrying
for nearby projects, including the North Jakarta coast
reclamation project.

The six islands that have been reported to have disappeared
are Pulau Ubi, Pulau Damar, Pulau Laki, Pulau Nirwana, Pulau
Dapur and Pulau Nyamuk.

Two of the islands, Pulau Laki and Pulau Nyamuk, were home to
many bird species.

Saud also named three other islets in the chain, Gusung Laga,
Gusung Karang and Gusung Kapas, which were also vanishing because
of the illegal sand quarrying.

"The sand quarrying activities in the area have been done over
the last decade. Why does the city administration still issue
permits to contractors to do sand quarrying there?" he said.

Saud said the disappearance of the six islands started when
part of the islands' sand was taken for the development of
Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in the early 1980s.

"Stopping the existing sand quarrying practice is not easy. I
can't imagine what the damage will be if the administration keeps
giving permits for other contractors to do the same in the
Thousand Islands chain," Saud said.

Saud said that it is terrible for Jakarta to lose the islands
because as well as being the city's natural habitat sites, they
also function as the city's barrier against environmental
changes.

"The city administration, especially the North Jakarta
mayoralty, has to be strict and bravely enforce the rules," he
said.

Saud said that the deteriorating situation was caused mainly
by the possibility of collusion between some officials and big
contractors in the reclamation projects.

Meanwhile, deputy governor of economic and development
affairs, T.B. Rais, said earlier that the reclamation project in
North Jakarta bay would need 200 million cubic meters of sand.

According to Rais, the sand would be taken from underwater
sea-sand quarrying and the 14 rivers in North Jakarta, including
Banjir Kanal Timur.

While not opposed to the reclamation plan, Saud said it was
time for every official involved in the project having a bad
impact on the environment to consistently obey the rules.

"If some officials or contractors were proven to be guilty in
such practices, they should be exposed to the public and
punished according to the existing law," he said.

"Remember our future generations. Don't sacrifice them over
the negligence we do today," Saud added. (07)