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)