Govt revokes three decrees on township, reclamation projects
Govt revokes three decrees on township, reclamation projects
JAKARTA (JP): President B.J. Habibie decided on Wednesday to
revoke three presidential decrees signed by former president
Soeharto on the reclamation of North Jakarta Bay and Kapuk Naga
coast in Tangerang and the development of Jonggol as a new
township.
Speaking to reporters after a limited cabinet meeting on the
economy, finance and industry at the Bina Graha presidential
office, State Minister of Agrarian Affairs/Chairman of the
National Land Agency Hasan Basri Durin said the revocation of the
three decrees was done out of fear that their implementation
would only result in malfeasance and corruption, collusion and
nepotism.
"The decrees used to regulate the projects are too high,"
Durin said, adding that they were Presidential Decree No. 52/1995
on the reclamation of the North Jakarta Bay, Presidential Decree
No. 73/1995 on the reclamation of the Kapuk Naga coast in
Tangerang and Presidential Decree No. 1/1997 on the development
of Jonggol in West Java as a new township.
The malfeasance which might arise from the implementation of
the projects, he said, could be in the form of deviations from
the city's planning regulations and the preference in the
granting of facilities.
"That's why the three decrees were revoked," he said.
One of the developers to have joined the Jakarta Bay
reclamation project is PT Manggala Krida Yudha, a private company
owned by Soeharto's youngest daughter Siti Hutami Adiningsih. The
company has been allowed to reclaim 500 hectares for the
construction of the Ancol Baru project.
Other contractors selected for the bay project include PT
Mandira Permai and PT Kapuk Naga Indah.
The Pantai Indah Kapuk waterfront project, developed by
Mandira Permai, was scheduled to be completed in 2002.
PT Kapuk Naga Indah, a subsidiary of the widely diversified
Salim business group, is doing reclamation work covering 674
hectares north of Pantai Kapuk in the western part of the Jakarta
Bay reclamation zone, which covers a total area of 2,700
hectares.
The Kapuk Naga reclamation project, which was scheduled to be
completed within 15 years, is expected to preserve mangrove
forests along the cost.
The Ministry of Forestry and Plantations requested recently
that the 30,000-hectare Jonggol township project linked to one of
Soeharto's sons be put on hold until the developer settled a
dispute with the ministry.
PT Bukit Jonggol Asri, the developer of the township project
located in the Jonggol district of Bogor, about 30 kilometers
southeast of Jakarta, is believed to have not fulfilled its
obligation to provide forest areas in exchange for the site used
for the project.
According to the plan, the Jonggol self-sufficient city was
designed to be the biggest housing project in Greater Jakarta.
Durin said that after being revoked, the policies for further
development in the three areas would be entrusted to the governor
of West Java, who is in charge of both Jonggol and the Kapuk Naga
coast, and his Jakarta counterpart.
"The governors will later be in charge of making adjustments
in line with the existing city planning in their respective
areas," he said.
Durin explained that the two governors would also have to make
adjustments on the projects' plans in line with the existing
regulations.
"They will later be asked to renegotiate with the private
partners chosen to handle the development of the three projects,"
he said.
He said that the revocation of the decrees did not necessarily
mean that the projects had been halted.
"The three projects can go on if the governors and the local
administrations consider that they do not deviate from the
existing planning regulations and last but not least the
developers agree to continue the projects," he said.
One of the regulations the developers have to abide by, is
that they should not develop a larger area than that permitted by
the government, he added. (hhr)