Government promises crackdown in Puncak
Government promises crackdown in Puncak
JAKARTA (JP): As the floods that crippled the city ebbed away,
the government renewed its determination yesterday to tighten
control of development in the Bogor-Puncak-Cianjur area, where
most of the city's 13 rivers originate.
Under a presidential decree, the Bogor-Puncak-Cianjur area has
been designated as a water catchment area vital to Jakarta and
the surrounding areas, and development ought to be closely
supervised.
The new enthusiasm for applying existing laws at the holiday
resorts which have long been wealthy Jakartans' playground was
sparked by the National Spatial Planning Coordination Board.
The board chaired by Minister of National Development
Planning/Chairman of the National Planning Board Ginandjar
Kartasasmita coordinates representatives from the state ministry
of population, the public works ministry, the ministry of defense
and the national land agency.
State Minister of the Environment Sarwono Kusumaatmadja said
yesterday that the board has recommended that building activities
in restricted areas be stopped, old plantations be changed into
forests, and more water catchment pits be built.
"Actually, building activities in the area would not
necessarily pose a problem if the laws had been properly
enforced," he told journalists after opening a one-day seminar on
environment sponsored by the Association of Hotels and
Restaurants.
The uncontrolled development in the Bogor-Puncak-Cianjur area
has been partly blamed for the latest three days worth of
flooding in Jakarta. At least twenty people were killed,
thousands of families fled their inundated homes and traffic was
brought to a standstill between Saturday and Monday.
Sarwono said that the government will not extend permits for
old plantations. The locations will, instead, be reforested to
enable the land to absorb more rain water.
The National Spatial Planning Coordination Board has concluded
that Bogor-Puncak-Cianjur is rapidly being swallowed up by real
estate developers.
Besides, Sarwono said, forested areas aimed to protect the
water catchment have not been expanded.
Meanwhile, the Indonesian Environmental Forum (Walhi) urged
the city administration to scrap its plan to reclaim 2,700
hectares of Jakarta Bay mainly for tourist and business centers.
In a statement signed by activists Emmy Hafild and Chalid
Muhammad, Walhi said the reclamation project would only worsen
the city's flooding problem because it would obstruct water flows
into the bay.
"If anything is to blame for the recent major flooding, it is
the city administration's apparent inability to implement the
spatial planning it has made," the statement said.
For example northern Jakarta is zoned for agriculture because
the unstable land is not suitable for building. But in reality,
the administration will have all the swamps and tidal land in
northern Jakarta reclaimed for tourism and housing projects, the
statement said.
"Some reclamation projects in Jakarta Bay have been made
possible by close relations between city officials and real
estate entrepreneurs. Officials have turned a deaf ear to the
City Council's advice," it added. (pan)