Greater Jakarta needs integrated master plans

Greater Jakarta needs integrated master plans

By Riyadi

JAKARTA (JP): Jakarta is currently expanding to all directions
to house its population of over nine million people, but there
are not yet guidelines for such expansion.

The city is overpowering its neighboring towns such as Bekasi
in the east, Bogor in the south and Tangerang in the west, then
unifying them into the greater Jakarta area (Jabotabek).

When the idea of Greater Jakarta came about for the first time
in early 1970s, Sutami, who was then the Minister of Public
Works, was so dismayed that he suggested Jakartans not even use
the term.

"Don't even mention Jabotabek as it will only blow the city up
even bigger and then invite people from all over the country to
flock to the city," Sutami was quoted by Hendropranoto Suselo, an
expert at the Ministry, as saying recently.

However, when Radinal Moochtar assumed the ministerial post in
1988, Greater Jakarta was not an alien concept anymore. Radinal
even recruited some foreign consultants to conduct studies on the
city's expansions, which have touched the northern coast of West
Java province, ranging from Banten in the west to Cikampek in the
east.

Unfortunately, the results of the studies are kept in a secure
place, where no one is willing to venture. And what is called the
integrated master plans for Greater Jakarta has never become
reality.

"We do need such master plans to control the expansion of the
city," said Enggartiasto Lukita, chairman of the Indonesian Real
Estates.

Hendropranoto told The Jakarta Post that plans to draft them
have long been there, but there are difficulties to formalize
them.

According to the 1992 master plan law, blue prints for Greater
Jakarta can be adopted only through a presidential decree,
because they cover a number of districts not controlled by city
administration.

As long as there are no master plans for the Greater Jakarta
area, Hendropranoto said the expansion of the city will be
carried out based on separate master plans of Jakarta itself and
the supporting towns -- Bekasi, Bogor and Tangerang.

However, Enggartiasto complained that the administrations of
the supporting towns often change their own master plans or do
not stick to them at all.

"They may not realize how great the losses caused to real
estate developers due to their ignorance of the master plans,"
Enggartiasto said at a recent seminar on the planning of new
towns, conducted by Jakarta-based Tarumanegara University.

Meanwhile, Bambang Bintoro Sudjito, secretary general of the
Association of Indonesian Planners, suggested that the government
invite private sector bids in the drafting of the master plans.

He said the 1992 law on master plans recognizes the people's
right to be involved in the drafting of the master plans and to
be protected from the possible negative effects of their
implementation.

The master plans for Greater Jakarta are timely, especially
for the development of new supporting towns, such as Lippo City,
Lippo Village, Bumi Serpong Damai, Cikarang, Balaraja and
Tigaraksa -- all under the authority of the West Java
administration.

Minister Radinal specified that the development of the new
supporting towns should not burden their mother city, Jakarta,
which is already burdened enough.

"Most of the new towns still burden Jakarta, especially with
traffic problems as most of their residents work in the city,"
Radinal said in his written speech at the seminar.

"It is necessary to develop new supporting towns which are
really independent, which will help reduce stress on their mother
city," the minister added.

It is hoped that Jakarta in the future will no longer be a
"frustrating city for business" as it was described in the Nov.
14 edition of Fortune magazine.