Governor entitled to control Jakarta Bay area: Councilor

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)