Emil Salim joins in calls to abort reclamation

Emil Salim joins in calls to abort reclamation

Bambang Nurbianto and Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post,
Jakarta

Criticism against the city administration's plan to reclaim
the coastal areas in some northern parts of Jakarta has increased
with Emil Salim, an environmental expert and former minister of
the environment, putting his weight behind the opponents of the
massive project.

Emil Salim emphasized that the 2,700-hectare project would
worsen the flood problems in Jakarta.

"Don't widen the coastal areas in Jakarta as it will surely
worsen flood problem in Jakarta," Emil told The Jakarta Post over
the weekend.

He said that the reclamation project would further worsen the
impact of global warming, which according to environmental
experts, could eventually raise global sea levels by up to 60
centimeters by 2070, due to the melting of ice at the north and
south poles, causing some coastal lands and islands to become
completely submerged.

According to Emil, the impact of global warming on tropical
areas like Indonesia would be doubled compared to other regions.

He explained that global warming could be hastened by such
reclamation projects, which could cause an average of a 12-
centimeter rise in Jakarta's rivers.

Emil also warned the project investors that they would suffer
financial losses over the next 20 to 30 years as the reclaimed
areas would be affected by serious flooding during the rainy
season.

"We are now working to reduce the possibility of global
warming, but we should consider the worst-case scenario (if the
effort fails). Therefore, don't go ahead with the reclamation
project," Emil noted.

Previously, Minister of Environment Nabiel Makarim, Minister
of Fisheries and Maritime Affairs Rokhmin Danuri, Minister of
Resettlement of Regional Infrastructure Soenarno and
environmental activists have stated that environmentally the
project was not feasible.

Environment Minister Nabiel Makarim issued a decree to oppose
the reclamation plan after considering a recommendation issued by
the Central Commission of Environmental Assessment, which was
tasked to study the environmental impact analysis on the project.

One of the items of the recommendation says that reclamation
will worsen flooding in the city as it would raise water levels
in rivers flowing through the northern coastal areas up to 12
centimeters.

Agus Pratama Sari, an executive director at the environmental
research organization Pelangi, also warned that the global
warming impact would be worsened by the reclamation project.

He also said that the joint global efforts to curb the global
warming impact were not yet successful.

Through the Kyoto Protocol the international community will
attempt to reduce CO2 emissions -- one of the main causes of
global warming -- by 5 percent by 2012, but there were no
indications that these efforts would be successful due to a lack
of commitment. He said even if the Kyoto Protocol was successful
it would not be enough to halt global warming.