Nabiel loses case against BP Panture

Nabiel loses case against BP Panture

M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Environmental protection efforts suffered a setback on Wednesday
after the Jakarta State Administrative Court ruled in favor of
the Jakarta Waterfront Development Board (BP Pantura) in its
dispute against the State Minister of the Environment over a
controversial land reclamation project for Jakarta's northern
coast.

The panel of judges ruled that Decree No. 14/2003, issued by
the State Minister of the Environment to reject the plan to
reclaim 2,700 hectares of the area, was unlawful and ordered the
minister's office to revoke it immediately.

"The decree is unlawful because the issuance was beyond a
state minister's authority. The state minister of the environment
was entitled only to assist the president in drawing up
environmental policies and coordinating environmental protection
initiatives," presiding judge Eddi Nurjono said in his verdict.

The judges also decided that the decree contradicted
Presidential Decree No. 5/1985, which gave the go-ahead for the
reclamation project.

The ministerial decree -- which states that relevant companies
that have business relations with BP Pantura must stop their
cooperation unless an environmental impact analysis (Amdal) is
made -- was also rendered void until a final verdict on the case
was reached.

Lawyers of the accused will appeal the verdict.

State Minister of the Environment Nabiel Makarim said the
judicial panel had set a bad precedent for environmental
protection efforts in the country.

"For the first time, the Amdal for a project, which has the
potential to cause widespread environmental damage, has been
annulled by a court decision," he said in a media release.

The minister said the House of Representatives, the Ministry
of Justice and Human Rights and the Supreme Court should summon
the panel of judges for making the controversial ruling.

Executive Director of the Indonesia Forum for the Environment
(Walhi) Longgena Ginting denounced the ruling, saying that the
administrative court had no authority to hear the case.

He said the trial had been marred by irregularities from its
inception.

"The six companies had no right to file the suit in the first
place as the ministerial decree concerned only BP Pantura," he
told The Jakarta Post after the trial.

As an agency established by the Jakarta administration, BP
Pantura is subject to rulings from the administrative court.

Six companies under BP Pantura's umbrella -- PT Bakti Bangun
Era Mulia, PT Taman Harapan Indah, PT Manggala Krida Yudha, PT
Pelabuhan Indonesia II, PT Pembangunan Jaya Ancol and PT Jakarta
Propertindo -- have invested a huge sum of money in the project.
They filed the lawsuit against the decree, which they considered
would cause them to suffer a financial loss.

The reclamation project is for the construction of luxury
houses, hotels, condominiums, an industrial zone, a port,
business centers, massive shopping malls, offices and recreation
places. The project is expected to be completed within 30 years.

Experts have long called on the government to call off the
reclamation project, saying it would cause numerous environmental
and social problems.