House halts Dadap reclamation

Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Unrelenting protests by fishermen and environmentalists against the reclamation of the north Tangerang coastline met with support from House of Representatives members, who on Monday ordered Regent Ismet Iskandar to stop the project.

In a hearing with Tangerang officials, deputy chairman of House Commission VII on environmental affairs Sonny Keraf stressed that the regent should stop all reclamation activities until the developers could guarantee that it would cause no environmental damage.

"We'll check whether an environment impact analysis was done for the project," he said.

Sonny was the state minister of the environment in the Cabinet of Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid.

Ismet previously explained that the reclamation of Dadap village was for the establishment of a tourist resort equipped with hotels, restaurants, apartments and sports facilities.

He said the project, which began mid-last year, was being carried out by three major developers -- PT Kosambi Harapan Utama, Wisata Pasir Putih Kosambi Cooperative and PT Parung Harapan.

At the time of the hearing, 70 fishermen who operate in Dadap Bay staged a rally outside the House compound, protesting the reclamation project, which they said had caused a reduction in their incomes.

Abiddin, one of the fishermen, welcomed the House's standpoint on the matter, saying the project had forced him to fish farther out to sea.

"Before the reclamation, we could catch fish just 100 meters from shore, but now we have to travel over one kilometer farther. The project costs us more in operational costs," he added.

Other fishermen have left their jobs and become scavengers to earn a living.