Reclamation dispute continues

Reclamation dispute continues

Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The dispute between State Minister of the Environment Nabiel
Makarim and Governor Sutiyoso over the reclamation of the
northern coastal area will likely continue as they do not see
eye-to-eye on the plan.

Nabiel had requested that Sutiyoso redesign the project, but
the governor insisted on Wednesday that the giant project could
proceed only if the environmental impact analysis (Amdal) was
revised.

"We will revise the Amdal based on their (the ministry's)
recommendation," Sutiyoso said.

He also claimed on Monday that Nabiel had approved the 2,700-
hectare reclamation plan for the city's northern coastal area.

Nabiel, however, asserted that he had not changed his mind in
regards the project. He told reporters that the plan would be
implemented only if the city administration redesigned the entire
project and submitted a completely new Amdal.

Nabiel also stressed on Tuesday the need for an integrated
policy between Bogor and Jakarta to control the annual floods in
the capital, and that this policy had to be developed before the
reclamation project could begin.

Although Jakarta did not experience huge floods this year,
Nabiel was still not convinced that the project, which would
require 330 million cubic meters of sand, would not cause
environmental damage in other areas.

Nabiel said he had no intention to revoke Ministerial Decree
No. 14/2003, which rejects the reclamation project in North
Jakarta, and instead stressed that the decree, issued in
February, was final.

Sutiyoso said a revision of the Amdal report would be
conducted by the city administration, particularly in regards
efforts to improve flood control in the city.

However, he stressed that he could not do anything to improve
the river catchments in upstream areas like Bogor, Depok and
Tangerang, which are beyond his jurisdiction.

According to the decree, the project would raise the sea level
to about 12 centimeters and damage the marine ecosystem, because
of the great amount of sand needed for the project.

The project would also increase the pollution around Kepulauan
Seribu regency during the reclamation process and in the
utilization of the reclaimed land.

Furthermore, the project would spark social strife as
thousands of fishermen living in Kamal Muara, Muara Angke, Muara
Baru and Kampung Luar Batang would be rendered jobless.

The reclaimed land from the project, which will be managed by
the Jakarta Waterfront City Management (PB Pantura), would be
allocated toward luxury houses, hotels, condominiums, industrial
zones, ports, business centers, mega shopping malls, offices,
seaports and recreation areas.