Land reclamation no harm to environment: Surjadi
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)