Govt pushed to act on illegal villas

Govt pushed to act on illegal villas

Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government's policy not to demolish villas, including
those built illegally without building permits, in the mountain
resort of Puncak, West Java, is bad news for the environment, say
green experts.

"The government should not withdraw its commitment to protect
the environment. If those villas were built illegally on state
land that is designated for conservation, they should be
demolished whatever the consequences," said Mas Ahmad Santoso, a
senior researcher at the Indonesian Center for Environmental Law
(ICEL) on Saturday.

Mas Ahmad stressed that the government should also not have to
pay any compensation to the owners of villas built illegally on
state land.

Earlier, Minister of National Development and Planning Kwik
Kian Gie said that it was not necessary to demolish the villas.
He argued that it would be costly and difficult to tear down the
established buildings, adding that they were considered a mistake
of the past government.

Puncak lies in Bogor regency. In two Bogor subdistricts,
Cisarua and Megamendung, there are 1,715 villas, 840 of which
were built illegally on state-owned land.

While in two of Cianjur's subdistricts, Pacet and Sukaresmi,
there are 1,107 villas, of which around 40 percent were illegally
built.

Development of villas built illegally is not just a mistake of
the past government as it still goes on today.

Wahyudi Wisaksono, an environmental expert from the Jakarta-
based Trisakti University, said legalizing such activities could
not be accepted whatever the reason, as it would set a bad
precedence for environmental campaigns.

"In the New Order era (under former president Soeharto), the
government changed white into black and black into white. But in
this reform era, it should not be allowed to happen again,"
Wahyudi told The Jakarta Post here on Saturday.

He, however, admitted that, based on regional autonomy, the
central government could not act autocratically in trying to
improve the situation in Puncak, as the authority is now in the
hands of the administrations of Bogor and Cianjur regency.

Wahyudi said integrated efforts involving all parties -- the
central government, the West Java, Jakarta, Bogor and Cianjur
administrations -- are needed to resolve problems in those areas,
which are all part of the water catchment area for Ciliwung
river.

Experts believe that the growing number of villas and other
buildings in the mountain resort contribute to flooding in the
capital.

Such development increases land erosion, which leads to high
levels of sedimentation in the upper areas of rivers that flow
into Ciliwung River. Those rivers are Cisukabirus, Cibogo,
Cisarua, Cilember, Ciluar, Sisesek and Cibuluh.

Data from the office of the state minister for environmental
affairs, reveals that erosion in these areas rivers reaches 400
tons of earth per hectare per year. The maximum safe limit for a
river is 39 tons per hectare per year.

According to Mas Ahmad, in trying to resolve the capital's
flood problems, the government cannot just concentrate on
developing flood control facilities in Jakarta, such as the plan
to develop the Eastern Flood Canal. He said that efforts must be
integrated with the improvement of environmental conditions
upstream, like Puncak.

He added that Kwik should also take part in controlling the
development process so that it is in line with environmental
principles, as the National Development Planning Board (Bappenas)
is also part of an environmental watchdog.

"Therefore, we should be consistent, otherwise, we will just
go on repeating past mistakes," he said.