Firm to manage reclamation project set up

Firm to manage reclamation project set up

JAKARTA (JP): The City Council set up Thursday a joint-venture
company to carry out the reclamation project in the North Jakarta
coastal area.

The company PT Pembangunan Pantai Utara Jakarta would work
under the auspice of the North Jakarta Reclamation Implementation
Board and seek cooperation with third parties to invest in and
manage different sectors under the project.

The lineup of the company's executives has yet to be revealed.

The establishment of the joint venture company, proposed by
the administration, was announced in a plenary meeting between
the City administration executives and the City Council.

Deputy Governor for Economic and Development Affairs Tb.M.
Rais represented Governor Suryadi Soedirdja in the meeting.

Council Speaker M.H. Ritonga, representatives from the United
Development Party, Golkar and the Indonesian Democratic Party
attended the meeting at the City Council office.

Ritonga said that the company needed a basic capital of Rp 10
billion (US$4.1million).

But for the time being the money available was only Rp 5
billion. "Rp 4.95 billion of which will come from the city
administration, while another Rp 50 million will be from the
Civil Servants Corps (Korpri) foundation," he said.

The plenary meeting also agreed that part or the 2,700 hectare
land to be reclaimed in the project would be transferred to the
company, as an additional of the city investment in the project.

The head of the City's Development Planning Board, Budihardjo
Soekmadi, told reporters after the meeting that the price of the
land affected by the reclamation project would be based on the
market. "The reclamation costs would not affect the price of
land," he said.

The municipality would announce the prices of the land values
every year, he said. "This is significant to determine the amount
of compensation given to residents whose property affected by the
project."

The reclamation board had earlier said that the price of the
land in the reclaimed are was estimated at US$200 per square
meter.

The project, which would consist of residential, business,
recreational and tourist attractions, would stretch 32 kilometers
along the Jakarta Bay, from Pluit in the west to Cilincing in the
east.

The 1997 land prices in Pluit, Penjaringan district ranged
from Rp 103,000 (US$42.4) to Rp 2,925,000, while in Cilincing
district the values were from Rp 64,000 to Rp 1,573,000. In
Tanjung Priok district, the prices were between Rp 128,000 and Rp
2,508,000.

Budihardjo said that the reclamation project would start after
the detailed environmental impact analysis was completed.

"Detailed environmental impact analysis is crucial in such a
huge project," he said.

So far only the regional environmental impact analysis has
been already completed. "The regional analysis functions only as
a guideline for environmental management and supervision,"
Budihardjo said.

Councilor L.H. Sinaga said the outline was already approved by
the City's Environmental Impact Analysis Commission and the
Environmental Impact Management Agency.

The project, which would reclaim 2,300-hectare of land, not
including the 400-hectare land at the Tanjung Priok Port, would
be carried out through three stages scheduled to be completed
with in 15 years.

The first five-year stage would be used to reclaim a 900-
hectare of land, while the second and the third would reclaim
another 600 and 800 hectare respectively.

Anthony Salim of the widely diversified Salim group has joined
the project and would reclaim 600 hectares in the northern part.
(ste)