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.