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.