Govt gives green light to Tangerang tourist center

JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto gave the green light to the West Java provincial administration's plan to jointly develop an 8,000-hectare tourist site with the private sector.

The President announced his approval of the Teluk Naga, Tangerang, project at a presentation on the plan by West Java Governor Nuriana at the Bina Graha presidential office.

Nuriana explained that the planned tourist center, which is expected to be completed within 21 years, will feature a wide variety of facilities ranging from marine attractions, hostels, malls and apartments to sports facilities.

"About 4,000 hectares of the total 8,000-hectare area will be reclaimed from the existing shoreline, another 2,500 hectares from ponds, and the reminder will involve the appropriation of rice fields and villages," he said.

The governor said that the project is aimed mainly at restructuring coastal development so it is on a par with the rapid growth in Greater Jakarta, which includes Bogor, Tangerang and Bekasi.

"The project is expected to anticipate the impact of Jakarta's housing and tourism development program in which West Java province functions as a buffer zone for the capital," he said.

"The integrated tourism project, which is expected to promote existing economic potential to absorb as much of the local labor force as possible, is designed to nurture solid cooperation between the provincial government, businessmen and the public," he explained.

Nuriana also said the project is intended to create an area accommodating the socio-cultural, residential site, business, education and recreation needs of the public.

He explained that the planned integrated tourist site, which will feature extensive parks and other green areas, will be accessible through Serpong in the south and along the Sedyatmo toll road linking the Soekarno-Hatta airport and Jakarta in the east.

The planned marine tourism, he said, will involve the active participation of local fishermen, who are now living in several villages, including Kamal, Dadap and Tanjung Pasir. The project requires that they be relocated into one special "fishermen's village".

"A new dock will be built to enable the fishermen to sell their fish catches and other souvenirs to visiting tourists," he said.

He added that a segment of the existing rice fields will be maintained to enable visitors to enjoy the picturesque scenery of rural Java.

Nuriana said that a local private sector investor has already expressed interest in participating in the project, but he refused to give details on grounds that no decision has been made.

He said that the preparation stage is conducted from 1994 to 1996, covering the processing of permits, forest land barters and land clearance. The construction of the project will start as soon its preparations, including its master plan, are completed in 1996, he said, adding that the project is expected to be completed by the year 2015.

The President warmly welcomed Nuriana's presentation, saying that the reclamation of land along the seashore for the tourist center adequately solved the problem of the scarcity of land for such large-scale projects.

Besides avoiding the displacement of large numbers of people, the reclamation work is designed to have a positive impact on the local environment through dredging of the ocean bottom. "This dredging will facilitate the flow of water from a number of rivers and facilitate the traffic flow of ships operating in the area," he said. (hhr)