Current city planning to be reviewed: Governor

Current city planning to be reviewed: Governor

JAKARTA (JP): The city administration is reviewing the urban
planning for the period between 1985 and 2005 in an effort to
accommodate the development process.

Governor Surjadi Soedirdja said in a plenary hearing yesterday
the review is needed because the administration realizes that the
current planning can no longer keep up with the rapid pace of
development.

"The current city planning arrangements can no longer meet the
needs of the development process, therefore we are reviewing it
to keep abreast of development in the future," Tb. M. Rais,
deputy governor for economics and development, who read the
governor's written speech, said.

He said that the review is expected to be completed next year.

Recently, Rais said the new plans will take flood conditions
in the city into account.

"It will be dangerous if we don't match the city planning with
the city's water condition," he said, adding that it will also be
used to form flood master plan.

Rais said the water condition in the city has become worse due
to the development process and the only way to cope with the
problem is bringing environmental conditions into the equation.

He said currently the city development board is still
evaluating the city's water conditions. It is expected to come up
with the finished research this year, and the results will be
used as the basis for the new city planning, he said.

"Actually, the evaluation should have been done much earlier
because the city's environment is deteriorating rapidly."
(yns)