Jakarta growth unchecked: Expert
JAKARTA (JP): The capital has rapidly grown as a metropolis without proper city planning, which can be seen from irregularities in public activities and daily life, according to experts.
Speaking at a one-day seminar here on Thursday, dean of the School of Technique of Indonusa Esa Unggul University, Jo Santoso, and director of the Center for New Town Development Studies at De Montfort University Milton Keynes in the UK, Mervyn Dobbin, said much of the available planning had been improperly implemented.
According to Santoso, the city administration was too accommodative toward private developers, such as by too readily issuing building permits for projects.
"The root of the mistakes is the (Jakarta) administration's decision to hand over the development of the city to the private sector by claiming the local government does not have enough money to do so," he said.
As a result of the irregularities, the city still has to face a growing number of slum areas, regular floods in many residential areas and a greater number of neglected housing complexes due to bad planning on, among other things, access roads and a lack of public facilities, Santoso explained.
He reminded that developers, as businesspeople, would put emphasis on the profitability of their projects.
"They emphasize their business interests more," Santoso said.
He suggested the Jakarta administration discard its old concept and reasoning by first studying people's needs before developing projects in certain areas.
Thus, he added, the administration would not immediately grant permits for just any development proposal by private companies before anything was clearly studied.
Dobbin, who along with Santoso was a main speaker at the seminar, said the city planning problems in Jakarta were similar to those in other major cities in Asia.
Local city planning was and remains out of control, he added.
Like most Jakartans, local communities also play no role in drafting the planning, Dobbin said.
He therefore said it was not surprising that Jakarta still faced so many urban problems.
He proposed that the Jakarta administration learn development strategy in various big European cities where administrations take a more participative and consultative approach in their projects.
"The Jakarta administration should, for example, inform people on what is planned," he said.
According to Dobbin, a decent partnership between developers and local communities would provide better human settlements.
He also suggested the central government cease its involvement in city planning and development and instead leave them in the hands of the local government.
The discussion on the growth of new towns approaching the third millennium was held at Tarumanagara University in West Jakarta.
In line with Dobbin's idea, Santoso questioned the reasons why the Jakarta administration did not to involve the public in drafting city planning. The current plan is valid until 2010.
"Actually, the administration should involve people when drafting city planning. People's involvement is needed so that their needs are accommodated in the planning," he said.
Worst, he added, information concerning city planning is not disseminated among the public. (ind)