Govt may cancel reclamation projects
Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The central government is mulling over issuing a decree to cancel two controversial reclamation projects in Jakarta and Tangerang and the autonomous city of Jonggol in West Java.
Ministry of Resettlement and Regional Infrastructure Director General on Spatial Planning Sjarifuddin Akil said on Tuesday that the plan was part of efforts to properly manage the spatial planning of Jakarta, Depok, Bekasi, Tangerang, Bogor, Puncak, and Cianjur.
"We have come to the conclusion that the reclamation projects will give us more problems in dealing with floods," he said.
Sjarifuddin was referring to the reclamation project on the northern coast of Jakarta and the Kapuk Naga reclamation project in Tangerang, Banten, as well as the autonomous city of Jonggol, West Java.
Even without the northern Jakarta coast reclamation project and environmental damage it may cause, the capital city was already hit by huge seasonal floods in 2002, causing losses worth Rp 6 trillion (US$666 million).
According to Akil, the 2,700 hectare project would also cause more traffic jams and environmental problems in other areas due to the need for over 330 million cubic meters of soil to reclaim the coast. It would also kill off sea life.
The Office of the State Minister of the Environment rejected in mid-February the environment impact assessment (Amdal) on the reclamation of the northern coast of Jakarta due to expected serious environmental devastation.
It said the executive board of the reclamation project had failed to present evidence that the project would not aggravate flood problems in Jakarta.
The planned decree is expected to annul Presidential Decree No. 52/1995 on the reclamation of the northern coast of Jakarta.
But the Jakarta administration had challenged the central government's plan to cancel the reclamation project, saying that the project would give more benefit to people than losses, he said.
According to him, the Jakarta administration argued that with the reclamation project, the management of the project would help reduce floods by managing the flow of water into the sea.
"Next week, at the office of Coordinating Minister for the Economy, all parties will meet to talk about whether the reclamation could proceed or not," Akil said.
According to Akil, the Banten and West Java administrations have agreed to support the issuance of the decree, but Jakarta has not.
The decree would also prohibit the conversion of green areas into real estate or other types of development.
"Anyone who violates it would be arrested," he said.
According to Akil, the government would also revoke licenses of companies to build houses in green areas if the projects had not yet started.
But those companies that had already developed housing estates would be allowed to continue until their license expires, but their licenses would not be extended, he said.
Of the licenses issued covering 120,000 hectares of green areas in Greater Jakarta, 50 of the projects have not yet started.
The government also plans to issue a regulation on spatial planning across Java to help increase the percentage of green areas on the island and to avoid flooding.