Governor urged to take over Bira Island case
Governor urged to take over Bira Island case
JAKARTA (JP): Governor Surjadi Soedirdja should take over the
case of Bira Island following President Soeharto's call to put a
halt to the devastation of the island, said H. Lukman F.
Mokoginta, the chairman of the Jakarta chapter of the Indonesian
Democratic Party.
"The President has expressed his deep concern with the
environmental destruction taking place due to the construction of
a golf course on the island. The governor should take over the
case instead of expecting the Seribu Island Development
Supervision Control Team to solve it," Lukman said.
Last week the President underlined the importance of
rejuvenating the environment and called for stern action against
the developer, PT Pulau Seribu Paradise, if it refused to abide
by existing regulations.
President Soeharto made the remarks after State Minister of
Environment Sarwono Kusumaatmadja detailed the poor condition of
Bira Island, mostly the result of unabated tree felling.
"An environment impact analysis (Amdal) of Bira Island has
been rejected for several times by the city administration's
commission on environmental impacts. It is not due to the
slowness of the consulting firm that had been hired by the golf
course developers, but because the data which should be analyzed
does not meet the qualifications," Lukman said.
The Amdal, the Indonesian acronym by which the environmental
analysis is known, is a mandatory assessment that must be
presented by developers to ensure that any development will not
produce unwanted effects on the surrounding environment.
Last February, the commission on environmental impacts turned
down the developer's Bira Island analysis for the third time.
"The city administration will try to find the best solution to
this problem instead of stopping the construction of the golf
course," said Ery Chajaridipura, head of the City Development
Planning Agency and also chairman of Amdal commission.
"If the problem is about the water catchment, we can find a
solution by using high technology. For example, we can build
water catchment wells in those areas," he said.
According to the existing regulation, the developer of the
island must set aside 40 percent of the land for greeneries
which will be managed by the city administration.
To get around the regulation, the developer, with the approval
of the city administration, provided a plot of land for the green
area on nearby Panjang Island instead of on Bira Island.
"The city administration should not have allowed the developer
to provide a plot of land on another island," Lukman said.
The environment impact analysis of the island is still being
processed by the City Environment Office.
Aboejoewono Aboeprajitno, head of the City Environment Office,
said, "We expect to announce the result of the Amdal study this
month. From the Amdal results we will determine the extent of the
destruction."
"At the moment there is an independent consulting firm
assigned to check the condition of the water around the island,"
he said, adding that it would be impossible to return the
environment to its previous, less adulterated state.
Last week Minister Sarwono instructed PT Seribu Island
Paradise to audit the island's environment.
He also asked the developer to revive the plants there that
serve as water catchment and to improve the bio-diversity
conditions of the island. (31/yns)