Locals demand PIK, city to compensate up to Rp 500 m each

Locals demand compensation of Rp 500 m each from PIK, city Bambang Nurbianto The Jakarta Post Jakarta

About 5,000 families living around Pantai Indah Kapuk (PIK) luxury housing complex will seek compensation of up to Rp 500 million (US$50,000) each through a class action due to be filed within a month against developer PT Mandara Permai and the city administration.

Rino Subagyo of the Indonesian Center for Environmental Law (ICEL), said that the developer and the city administration were responsible for causing the annual floods in their four subdistricts since the development of the housing complex in 1992.

The four subdistricts in Penjaringan district, North Jakarta, which are most seriously affected by the annual floods include Kapuk Muara, Tegal Alur, Muara Angke, and Teluk Gong.

"They deserve to receive this level of compensation as they have suffered not only material, but also nonmaterial losses," Rino told The Jakarta Post.

He said that the public, with the support of the nongovernmental organizations ICEL, the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH Jakarta), the Indonesian Forum for Environment (Walhi) and the Jakarta Social Institute (ISJ), intended to file the class action within a month.

He added that apart from using environmental law issued in 1997, the lawyers would also use the Civilian Code, Article 1365, which specified that compensation was payable to those who suffered losses due to particular activities.

So far, he said, they had managed to collect the signatures of over 100 local people to support the class action.

Director of Walhi's Jakarta Chapter Ahmad Safruddin said that his organization was now collecting data on losses suffered by residents in the four subdistricts.

"In calculating the losses, for example, we also have to include their costs incurred in raising yards, floors, or houses to avoid the impact of the annual flooding. Also included is damage, such as damage to furniture caused by flooding," Ahmad told The Post.

Nonmaterial losses affecting the public, according to Ahmad, included the deterioration in environmental quality, which had negatively affected the local residents' health.

Ahmad added that 30 representatives, who would represent the 5,000 families, would give evidence about the losses suffered by the local people.

"Most of them have been living in the area for about 20 years. We hope that the representatives can point to the differences between the situation that existed in the area both before and after the development of Pantai Indah Kapuk," Ahmad said.

Head of the environmental division at LBH Jakarta Tubagus Haryo Karbyanto said that apart from the class action, Walhi and ICEL would also file a legal action against the developer and the city administration.

Tubagus said Walhi and Icel had two main demands, namely restoration of the environment in the area, and maintaining environmental quality in the area.

The PIK development began in the early 1990s after the Ministry of Forestry decided to give its approval to developer Mandara Permai, controlled by property tycoon Ciputra, to develop the 831.63 hectares of protected forest into a residential complex called Pantai Indah Kapuk Housing Complex.

From the start the development was opposed by both the public and environmentalists, who warned that it would cause environmental damage to the swamp, which also functioned as a water catchment area and nature reserve.

The two government officials most responsible for the project were former minister of forestry Hasjrul Harahap and former Jakarta governor Wiyogo Atmodarminto.