Officials told not to hide zoning plans

Officials told not to hide zoning plans

JAKARTA (JP): Vice President Try Sutrisno yesterday called on
government officials to publicly expose national zoning plans in
order to avoid people manipulating the plans for personal profit.

"There shouldn't be any more concealment, something which can
be and is often used to gain profit by certain elements of
society," he said as he opened a national convention on public
participation in zoning and urban development yesterday.

He stressed in his speech the important role of government
officials and centers of information in exposing and
disseminating information on zoning plans.

"This openness is an important element in ensuring public
participation," he said. "With clear information about the zoning
plans for their areas, we hope the public can anticipate and make
needed adjustments in their development activities."

The two-day national convention is being co-organized by the
Association of Indonesian Planners and the Center for Information
and Development Studies.

According to the head of Center for Information and
Development Studies' board of directors, Adi Sasono, some 300
participants from the academic, public and private sector are
taking part in the convention.

The House of Representatives passed the master zoning law in
1992 to offer better legal protection to land owners and to
ensure that the environment be preserved. Previously, the absence
of the law gave rise to numerous land disputes, including those
caused by the conversion of conservation areas into development
project sites.

Try yesterday described zoning as a "consequence of all our
success" in developing the country over the past three decades.

He explained that because industrial development had grown so
fast, the environment's ability to support such activities has
naturally declined. "This is why there's is a necessity to zone
areas for designated usages," he said.

Nevertheless, Try warned, in the planning of the spatial
zoning, various factors must be carefully considered and
coordinated.

One example is the need to strike a balance between the
development of urban and rural areas, he said.

"If we fail to do this there will be a strong flow of
urbanization, which in the end will cause new problems," Try
remarked.

Earlier Minister of Research and Technology B.J. Habibie also
noted the importance of zoning given the growing Indonesian
population, which is expected to reach 216 million people by the
year 2000. (mds)