Govt decision to revoke decrees on projects hailed

JAKARTA (JP): Governor Sutiyoso hailed on Thursday the central government's decision to revoke three presidential decrees signed by former president Soeharto on the reclamation of North Jakarta Bay and Kapuk Naga coast and the development of Jonggol township.

"There's nothing bad. For us, it's (the decision) good because the decision will also mean that the authorization (on the North Jakarta Bay project) is now in the hands of the governor," Sutiyoso told reporters.

Under Soeharto's decree, the three projects were under the central government's auspices.

On Wednesday, President B.J. Habibie revoked the decrees on the three massive projects and entrusted the development of North Jakarta Bay to the Jakarta administration and the Kapuk Naga and Jonggol projects to the West Java administration.

When Soeharto signed Presidential Decree No 52/1995 on the reclamation of North Jakarta Bay, the capital was led by Surjadi Soedirdja. At the time, Sutiyoso was the Jakarta Military Command's chief of staff.

The revocation of the North Jakarta Bay decree -- aimed to transform the northern coastal area into a future waterfront city -- does not mean that the financially troubled city administration is willing to immediately continue the megaproject which has been halted by its developers due to the prolonged monetary crisis.

According to Sutiyoso, the reclamation of 2,700 hectares of inundated land and revitalizing 13,709 hectares of land along the north coast of the capital would require a large amount of money.

"We need to take a deep breath first as it's a very costly and time-consuming project," the governor said.

Sutiyoso, in the first year of his five-year governorship, promised to restart the project again should the country's economy start to show signs of recovery.

He vowed not to change the project's existing plans and to give greater chances to companies that had been involved in the work to take part in the bidding for the megaproject's contracts.

"We'll carry out a tender again. I promise that the project will be awarded through an open bid," Sutiyoso said.

Under Surjadi's tenure, the city administration signed seven Memorandums of Understanding regarding the reclamation project between 1995 and 1997.

Companies that took part in the project under Soeharto's decree were PT Manggala Krida Yudha, a private firm partly owned by Soeharto's youngest daughter Siti Hutami Endang Adiningsih, PT Kapuk Naga Indah, a subsidiary of the widely diversified Salim Group controlled by one of Soeharto's closest cronies, PT Pembangunan Jaya Ancol, a joint venture between the city administration and property tycoon Ciputra, and PT Jaladri Kartika Eka Paksi, a company associated with the Armed Forces.

Sutiyoso hoped that the revocation of Soeharto's decrees would speed up the city administration's efforts to guarantee greater autonomy within its jurisdiction.

"So far, one of the major problems that has caused the stagnation of the North Jakarta Bay project was the different interests between the administration and the central government," he said.

A councilor reminded the city administration on Thursday that it should re-examine the project's environmental impact analysis report because the previous one was undertaken by the participating companies themselves.

"The study should be done again and this time by the city agency in order to obtain a more objective result," the head of the city council's Commission D for development affairs Ali Wongso Sinaga said.

"Such an objective analysis is very important to ensure the reclamation project won't destroy the surrounding areas as happened in the Thousand Islands," he said. (ind)