Punish delinquent realtors: Soeharto
Punish delinquent realtors: Soeharto
JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto yesterday urged municipal authorities in Jakarta and other big cities to take stern action against real estate companies which develop areas designated exclusively for water catchment zones.
Failure to act would strengthen the misperception that these developers are immune from the law due to their strong political backing, said State Minister of Environment Sarwono Kusumaatmadja, quoting the president.
"They are not backed. The local authorities should just go ahead and take action against them," Sarwono said.
The minister said he had been bothered by reports that some local authorities have failed to stop real estate companies from building in areas crucial for water catchment areas in major cities like Jakarta and other big cities.
"This is wrong. They are harming the environment which is my responsibility. Their failure to act has simply reinforced the allegation that the authorities are part of it too."
He did not go into specifics but much new real estate in Jakarta has been developed in areas previously believed to have been designated as the city's green belts in contravention of the spatial zones.
The Jakarta municipality has declared the areas south of Jakarta as the principal water catchment zones and therefore any housing development is highly discouraged and subject to stringent requirements. Despite this policy, many new real estate projects continue to mushroom in Jakarta's southern belt.
Asked to comment on the controversy over the development of Pantai Indah Kapuk, which was built over reclaimed land in North Jakarta, Sarwono said it was legitimate as long as the environmental impact analysis permitted.
Environmental groups have criticized the authorities for giving in to big and powerful Ciputra business group which manages the Pantai Indah Kapuk. They said the real estate and the land reclamation activities are harming the mangroves lining the northern coast of Jakarta.
Sarwono said however that he lamented the current practice of approving the real estate development first before compelling companies to undertake the environmental impact analysis (Amdal).
"It's as if Amdal is simply used to giving legitimacy to any project. If that's the way they do it, then I object."
He said that a project should be given the go ahead if the benefits outweigh the costs, and the same principle applies in the case of land reclamation.
Given that the Environmental Impact Management Agency (Bapedal) which oversees Amdal is under his charge, Sarwono said he had ordered his staff "never to compromise on this issue."
Sarwono yesterday also reported to the President about Indonesia's plan to host the second conference on the UN Convention on Biodiversity Resources towards the end of 1995.
Indonesia has already signed and ratified the convention which commits itself to the protection of biodiversity resources to the protocol in biodiversity research, including genetic engineering. (emb)