Governor entitled to control Jakarta Bay area: Councilor

JAKARTA (JP): A city councilor urged yesterday the Ministry of Transportation to hand over control and supervision of the Jakarta Bay reclamation project to the city administration.

The immediate transfer of authority is vital because a "superior law" already exists which "legally supports the city... to run the project", according to Ali Wongso Sinaga, the head of Commission D for development affairs.

Under the current system, there is overlapping in policy and procedure because both the ministry and BP Pantura (Jakarta Bay Supervision Board), which acts for the city, have a legal right to manage the reclamation project, Ali said.

As a result, BP Pantura had failed to properly fulfill its obligations, he said.

For example, the Ministry of Transportation collected levies and processed permits for the developers, he said.

"The ministry also acts as if every inch of the coastline is under its supervision and authority as stipulated in a decree jointly signed by the Ministry of Transportation and the Ministry of Home Affairs in 1972," Ali said.

But Law No. 11/1990 on the status of the Jakarta municipality, states that the coastline of the capital includes 100 kilometers of ocean beyond the existing beaches in the northern part of the city.

"And Presidential Decree No. 52/1995 about the Jakarta Bay reclamation project states that the supervision and control of the project is awarded to the Jakarta governor," Ali said.

"Therefore, this kind of practice must be stopped."

The city administration has so far signed seven memorandums of understanding and three development agreements with private contractors for the reclamation project.

One of the developers, PT Manggala Krida Yudha, which is owned by President Soeharto's youngest daughter Siti Hutami Endang Adiningsih, reclaimed 500 hectares of the 2,700 hectares plot designated for the reclamation project.

Another councilor and commission member, Achmad Suaidy, asked BP Pantura to help the local people who had been evicted from their land at the project site.

"Don't turn the project into an exclusive one in which only rich people could enjoy it. Make it useful for the 'little' people, too," Ahmad said.

He underlined the need for BP Pantura to provide locals with preferable facilities.

"Where are they supposed to go? If they have to move from their land, don't just give them reimbursement money. The project could at least give them better homes and a chance to have decent jobs."

Achmad also reminded developers at the site to help preserve Jakarta's historical sites, such as the small port town of Marunda, which is located within the project area.

"Marunda should be protected. The developers can achieve this by, for example, preserving the house of Si Pitung and some of the traditional Betawi (native Jakartans) houses left there," he said.

Marunda was part of the West Java municipality until 1976 when it was declared to be within the Jakarta municipality. Most of the port's residents worked as fishermen or made handicrafts to be sold in Jakarta.

But the 748,308 square meters that comprises Marunda, and was home to 3,000 people, was badly damaged by severe sea erosion and much of the land was worn away.

When the Jakarta municipality started its ambitious reclamation project of a 2,700-hectare plot in Jakarta Bay, Marunda was one of the targeted areas because it had been the hardest hit by erosion.

Many Marunda people had deserted their land, and those that struggled on were eventually forced to give up.

"If they have to leave their homes and land because of the area's poor condition, at least, after the reclamation project is completed, I hope the native people can be given something in return for their life's work," Ahmad said.

Councilor Lukman Mokoginta of the Indonesian Democratic Party faction underscored the need for BP Pantura to control and examine the developers' environmental impact studies.

"Some contractors involved in the reclamation project have not yet completed their analyses.

"It's dangerous if they just built without caring about the future impact on the environment," he said. "I urge them to immediately complete their studies to ensure that the projects will not one day flood the city."

Deputy Governor TB.M. Rais said earlier that he hoped the reclamation project would generate a better quality environment for Jakarta.

"The city will maintain its control over the project with BP Pantura to meet two important goals," he said. "First, to ensure a good standard of reclamation and, second, to build an integral plan which incorporates the reclamation project and the city's development." (05/07)