Ignorance of social cost

This week no less than 600 students from two primary schools in South Jakarta have had to move to nearby schools due to sound and air pollution.

They moved because they could no longer stand the harsh sound of cement mixers, nor the high level of dust stirred up by the trucks bringing in sand for the construction of apartments.

Just imagine how cramped the classrooms at the recipient school are now, with students having to sit elbow to elbow.

Still another complaint about pollution was lodged Wednesday by 40 students, who represented 400 students of an Islamic boarding school. This time the problem was in Tangerang.

It seems that the capital of this nation has no heart, but rather thrives on arrogance.

Warnings about this kind of excess were aired a long time ago when we first started our development program.

These phenomena show that the development in the capital in particular has not taken social costs into account. This is also reflected in the traffic jams near housing estates, or the fancy new shopping centers, going up throughout Jakarta. And it seems that this rush toward progress victimizes those very people who do not directly benefit from all of this development.

Capital investment is an important asset for development, but the interests of the people should never be set aside for any reason. It is time to insert the social costs of progress into the capital's and the nation's development regulations.

-- Kompas, Jakarta