More rice fields in Bekasi may disappear

BEKASI, WEST JAVA (JP): A property developer's plans for developing the Cikarang district threatens 3,000 hectares of productive rice fields in Bekasi, West Java.

PT Grahabuana Cikarang, an industrial and real estate developer affiliated to PT Kawasan Industry Jababeka (KIJ), will turn a 5,400 hectare plot in Cikarang, Bekasi, into industrial and real estate developments.

Out of the 5,400-hectare plot to be developed by PT Grahabuana Cikarang in the Cikarang district, 3,000 hectares are productive rice fields," KIJ's managing director, S.D. Darmono, said in a meeting with a group of industrial inspectors here yesterday.

Darmono said KIJ has submitted the project proposal to President Soeharto and is now waiting for a reply.

Darmono said if the proposal is approved by the President, Grahabuana will develop 2,900 hectares of the plot into a real estate, including houses for employees working in the industrial estate. Another 1,500 hectares will be for a high-tech industrial estate, he added.

He said while waiting for the approval, Grahabuana is currently developing 1,400 hectares out of the 3,000-hectare land for a housing complex.

Darmono said KIJ itself is developing a 790-hectare industrial estate in Cikarang, called Cikarang Industrial Estate.

He said there are currently 60 companies operating in the industrial estate with about 20,000 workers. "We have projected that there will be about 400 companies operating with an estimate of 100,000 employees.(02)