Govt may cancel reclamation projects

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.