On environment and city planning

The permit for Pantai Indah Kapuk (PIK) -- a luxury housing estate in Hutan Angke Kapuk, West Jakarta -- is going to be reviewed by an independent panel, which will be soon be formed by the Jakarta Governor, Sutiyoso. The team will investigate how far the PIK developer has violated its building permit.

The 1,144 hectare mangrove forest in the area, before it was transformed into a housing estate, golf course and recreational facilities, used to intercept around 9 million cubic metres of water. But today the area no longer functions as a filter for the intrusion of sea water or as a stabilizer during high tide or floods.

Instead of the 175-hectare area, that the housing permit was originally issued for in 1982, the area has now swollen to 543.69 hectares, while the area allotted for recreational and sports facilities has also increased from 60 hectares to 72.05 hectares, not including the 96.89-hectare golf course.

The protected mangrove swamp has shrunk from 100 hectares to 49.25 hectares, while the nature reserve has decreased from 65 hectares to 21.45 hectares and the 115-hectare supporting forest is nonexistent.

If the PIK developer has committed any violation, then it will serve as an example of how we have treated the environment, city planning and conservation.

The Minister for Resettlement and Regional Infrastructure has initiated a prudent measure by halting all housing construction projects in Jakarta, Bogor, Tangerang and Bekasi for a six month period.

As a sanction, this revocation of a building permit is certainly appropriate. Yet, the most important thing is to restore the function of the natural environment. Demolishing all buildings is obviously unrealistic, except for a golf course whose function is easy to restore to that of a catchment area.

A reasonable option -- except for revoking the permits of real estates and golf courses -- is to oblige all developers to build flood control facilities such as dikes and water channels.

-- Republika, Jakarta