NGO blames govt for Puncak crisis

Theresia Sufa, The Jakarta Post, Bogor

Non-governmental organization the Society of Environment Lovers (Wakal) blamed on Friday the Bogor regency administration for environmental damage in the Puncak mountain resort area following an increase in villa construction there.

"The administration has no political will to address the environmental crisis, let alone take action. The officials are simply looking for financial benefit from the villas," Wakal coordinator Ahmad Sjaugy Gathmyr told The Jakarta Post.

Ahmad further urged the officials and environmental experts to stop talking and take action.

"We have attended many seminars and discussions and heard comments from high-ranking officials and experts, but it's an open secret that the perpetrators of the environmental damage are above the law as they have bribed the authorities," he accused.

Also in the day, Director of National Spatial Management with the Ministry of Settlement and Regional Infrastructure Ruchyat Deni supported Wakal by saying that the local administration should be held responsible for the conversion of the Puncak from a conserved area to a residential area.

"The administration is powerless because those who own land in the Puncak are prominent national figures and state officials. The administration should have stopped the development of villas and the housing complexes there from the start," he said.

Ruchyat was speaking on the sidelines of a seminar held by the Bogor Institute of Agriculture, titled Spatial management and environmental issues in Greater Jakarta, the Puncak and Cianjur.

The intensity of development around Bogor, Puncak and Cianjur is always blamed for the annual flooding in Jakarta.

Recently, West Java Governor Danny Setiawan pointed out that it was the Jakarta elite that had caused the catastrophe.

"They bought the land and built villas or paid local farmers to cultivate fruit and vegetables for the consumption of Jakarta people, reducing water catchments. The high influx of visitors, uncontrolled development and poor law enforcement are all culprits with regard to environmental damage," he said.

Moreover, he said, the existence of contradictory regulations on the usage of the area had made the matter more complicated.

Presidential Decree No. 114/1999 identifies the area as a water and land conservation area, but Government Regulation No. 47/1997 on spatial management, as well as several bylaws, treat the area as a major source of revenue.

"There should be integrated management of the Bogor-Puncak- Cianjur area to maintain both its conservation and economic value," Danny said.

However, head of Bogor city spatial planning and environment agency Adrian Aria Kusuma said that the development of villas and housing complexes in the resort area was not unlawful.

"They were built on private land and they have the necessary permits. We are not ignoring the environmental damage issues but the development there, contrary to all accusations, improves the water catchment. What we need is proper control because we can't prevent people from developing land," he argued.