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)