Reclamation project study 'still in process'

JAKARTA (JP): The chairman of the North Jakarta Reclamation Project board said yesterday he had not been informed of the rejection of any of the project's regional environmental impact studies.

M. Sidharta, was responding to yesterday's report in the Bisnis Indonesia daily that the Environmental Impact Management Agency, Bapedal, had rejected the project's initial regional environmental impact study.

"We don't know about the rejection. We haven't finished the whole study yet," Sidharta said. As far as he was aware the outline study had been approved.

He said the final regional environmental impact study was scheduled to be completed by the end of this year.

The newspaper quoted Bapedal's deputy chairman in charge of environmental impact studies, P.L. Coutrier, as saying the study had to be rejected because it did not meet the necessary technical requirements.

A regional environmental impact study for the 2,700-hectare project in the Jakarta Bay was made compulsory in a 1995 presidential instruction. It stated the municipality had sole responsibility for the project, which is estimated to be completed in 2010.

Coutrier added Bapedal's repeated suggestions that the municipality hire a professional consultant to undertake the environmental impact study had been ignored.

Sidharta said the board had consulted experts but did not name anyone.

"We consulted Bapedal and the Bandung-based Institute of Technology to find a long-term consultant. But we haven't appointed a professional consultant," Sidharta said.

The city's project, which consists of building residential and business properties, and recreational and tourist attractions, is to stretch 32 kilometers along the Jakarta Bay, from Pluit in the west to Cilincing in the east.

Observers, legislators and councilors have raised concerns over the environmental impact and flooding potential, of ongoing and planned reclamation projects.

At least six separate projects had begun before the 1995 presidential instruction was issued, when only individual studies were compulsory for each project.

The developers were given permits to begin work in line with their respective environmental impact studies. They now have to meet the regional environmental impact requirements.

The companies included PT Mandira Permai, which developed the Pantai Indah Kapuk waterfront project. The company had to revise its environment impact study after it was blamed for the flooding of the toll road leading to Soekarno-Hatta International Airport.

One proposed project which must comply with the regional environment study for the reclamation plan, was submitted by Anthony Salim. The vice president of the Salim business group signed a memorandum of understanding at City Hall last month to reclaim 600 hectares for a mixed development project. (ste)