Fishermen fall victim to waterfront project

Fishermen fall victim to waterfront project

JAKARTA (JP): More than 15,000 fishermen, living along Jakarta's northern shoreline in East Jakarta, will have to give up their houses and livelihood when construction of the gigantic Water Front City (WFC) project gets underway.

"Basically we agree with the construction of this Water Front City project, as long as the officials in charge pay due attention to the plight of the fishermen living around the project. The developer should bear in mind that construction of the project is for the people's welfare," Saud Rahman, a member of city council's Commission D, said yesterday.

At the moment the total number of fishermen in Jakarta is 17,406, 6,586 of whom are natives of Jakarta, and the others hailing from various other regions in Indonesia.

An official of North Jakarta's fisheries department, Warto, confirmed that the majority of fishermen would have to move from the area affected by the project.

"The fishermen who have Jakarta ID cards will still be able to live in nearby Muara Angke and operate in Jakarta's sea as usual. They are also allowed to sell their fish at Muara Baru and Muara Angke fish auction sites," he added.

Saud said that the developer should build public and social facilities for the fishermen who are not affected by the construction of the project."If necessary, the developer should build low cost apartments for the fishermen," he added.

The head of Jakarta's fisheries department office, Soemaryo Wijoyo, said that his office has given some information to the fisherman. The majority of the fishermen, to be affected by the project, have not objected to the construction of the project, he said.

"We have informed them of the plan and so far we have not received any complaints from them," Soemaryo said.

The fishermen have been living there since 1977 and there are 936 houses belonging to them in Muara Angke, which is located in Pluit, Penjaringan. (31)