Land reclamation no harm to environment: Surjadi

JAKARTA (JP): The municipal administration, which plans a land reclamation project along Jakarta's north coast to accommodate a growing population, swears it will not damage the environment.

Governor Surjadi Soedirdja assured yesterday that the project will not harm the coastal environment.

Speaking to reporters after inducting five new city officials, Surjadi said that an environmental impact analysis of the projects is currently being done.

The Governor swore Untung Sutriasno in as secretary to the City Council, Ma'mun Amin as head of the city personnel bureau, Mursaid as head of the general affairs bureau, Niazie Gani as chief of the road information office and Mashoedi Noorseha as chief lecturer of the city training center.

"The environmental impact analysis is badly needed in planning the project to help the city administration protect the existing ecosystems, such as the mangrove forests," the governor said.

"The new waterfront city and its architecture will be constructed in line with that analysis," he said.

A great deal of concern has been expressed over the city's plan to embark on the land reclamation project. Various reports and studies have pointed out that a great number of Jakartans will be affected because the new land area will not only have an impact on marine life, but will also shift ocean current movements, sedimentation patterns. Other aspects of the complex coastal water system will also experience change that could have far reaching and unforeseeable consequences.

December

Surjadi said that the detailed plan on developing the new waterfront city, which will require filling in land and displacing open sea along Jakarta's northern coast, is expected to be finished in December.

"The plan will be presented to the President and the ministers for more input," Surjadi said.

The next step will be to appoint certain developers, who have the same ideas about protecting the environment, to invest in the new waterfront city, the governor said.

"There are many local and foreign investors, who have expressed interest in participating in building the waterfront city. Some of them have the same idea, some others don't," he said.

"A careful and reliable study is a must because protecting environment is very important for the city and its people in the long run," Surjadi said.

He also said that his office will not concentrate on the expertise of any given country, such as the Netherlands, to reclaim the land because the project is designed to be the best new waterfront city in the world.

"We want to try to make this waterfront city a model for the world, so the project is open for every country intending to offer their expertise in land reclamation," he said. (yns)