Poor geological data damages environment: Rais

JAKARTA (JP): A deputy governor says many irregularities discovered in various development aspects in the capital that have damaged the environment are mainly due to the absence of accurate geological data.

Deputy Governor for Economic and Development Affairs Tb. M. Rais said yesterday there is a great deal of environmental damage caused by irregularities in development.

"Our city planning was formed without being substantially supported by adequate geological data, which is important in determining land use," Rais said when opening a seminar on mining geology at City Hall.

He said accurate geological data is instrumental in drawing up good city planning, which is aimed at developing the city as well as building the city's infrastructure without harming the environment.

He said now that the city is gearing up to construct a subway system linking Blok M in South Jakarta and downtown Kota, the availability of accurate and adequate geological information is becoming more imperative.

"Data on underground conditions is very important for city planning so we know exactly, for example, the soil condition of an area before declaring it suitable for the site of a high-rise building," Rais said.

Rais urged related agencies, including the city's mining agency, to cooperate in conducting research aimed at drawing up the city's comprehensive geological data base.

"There are many large-scale projects to be completed in the city, such as land reclamation and the subway system. So the need for accurate and comprehensive geological data is indispensable," he said.

The one-day seminar was held by the city's mining agency to introduce technical guidelines on land dredging for projects such as a subway system, land reclamation and buildings.

The head of the agency, Arifin Akbar, said the guidelines were drawn up with the help of experts from the Bandung Institute of Technology, University of Indonesia, Gadjah Mada University and National Veteran University.

"The seminar is held to publicize the guidelines as an effort to encourage development which will not adversely affect the environment," Arifin said.

Rais also said the city administration should have a comprehensive underground utility system based on the city's geological data.

He said basically, the system is coordinating all underground projects conducted by either government or private agencies.

"They can use it without harming the environment and it is still in line with the city's planning," Rais said.

Jakarta is notorious for its messy underground utilities because none of the related agencies, such as electricity, gas and telecommunication companies, work together in establishing their utilities.

This situation has even been more aggravated by the fact that there are no maps or drawings available of the underground utilities. For example, the city administration does not have the underground utilities map of the sprawling Senayan Sports Complex in Central Jakarta. (yns)