Masterplan revision reduces green areas

Masterplan revision reduces green areas

Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

When the tollroad to Soekarno-Hatta Airport flooded, many
blamed Pantai Indah Kapuk (PIK) luxury housing estate, which is
built on protected mangrove forest along coastal areas of Kapuk
Muara in North Jakarta.

But housing estates are not the only projects built on
locations that were protected as green areas. Pondok Indah
Hospital and Hotel Mulia in South Jakarta, and Taman Anggrek
condominium and shopping center in West Jakarta have also
contributed to the capital's dwindling water catchment areas.

The development of those projects were made possible with the
issuance of the 1995-2010 Jakarta Masterplan, which is a revision
of the 1985-2005 Jakarta Masterplan.

Marco Kusumawijaya, a city planning expert, told The Jakarta
Post on Tuesday that the 1995-2010 Jakarta Masterplan was
enforced after the development of Pantai Indah Kapuk.

In the revised land-use masterplan, many green areas,
including those in Kapuk Muara, Tomang, and Sunter have
disappeared.

Marco warned that the current masterplan of Jakarta is already
a violation of sound environmental principles. Worse, there have
been many violations of the masterplan approved by corrupt
officials.

Marco said that such officials at the city administration
should be replaced in order to stop such violations.

"We have frequently heard about violations against the
masterplan, which has resulted in dwindling water catchment
areas, therefore, it is time for all parties to rethink their
past mistakes," he added.

He said that the city administration should stop issuing
license permits for physical development projects, particularly
those that require vast plots of land, as the remaining space
should be maintained as green areas.

"The ongoing floods are causing misery to hundreds of
thousands of Jakartans. This experience should be a good lesson
for bureaucrats who always think of their own interests," he
said.

Sharing Marco's idea, Joe Fernandez of the Institute for
Policy and Community Development Studies (IPCOS), said that
license permits should only be issued for the development of
apartments.

"If the city administration considers that residential areas
are still needed, they should be in the form of apartments, which
could accommodate a lot of people without requiring a lot of
space," he said.

Fernandez pointed out another problem as to why the city
administration was not able to resolve the flood problems: That
the governors only focused on short-term programs that could be
completed within their terms of office.

"A development is a continuing process. If certain projects
are not finished by a governor, the process should be continued
by his successor," he said.

According to Fernandez, there are still many other projects
constructed on preserved land along river banks and green belts.

Meanwhile, Marco also stressed that public participation is
the key to any policy's success, including the effort to resolve
the annual flood-related problems through public campaigns. It
would be successful if the public realized that building houses
close to riverbanks and throwing garbage into rivers only worsens
problems related to flooding, said Marco, adding that strong
leadership was needed to encourage greater public participation.