Spatial plan for coastal cities proposed
Spatial plan for coastal cities proposed
Zakki P. Hakim, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries and the National
Institute of Sciences (LIPI) have proposed a new spatial plan for
coastal cities following the 9-magnitude earthquake and tsunami
that hit Aceh and North Sumatra on Dec. 26.
The proposal, to be used for the rebuilding of the ruined
cities, suggests that the government move the cities away from
shoreline by between three-and-a-half and five kilometers.
The area between the coastline and the main cities should be
filled with mangrove forests, fish farms and plantations. The
mangroves as well as the plantations will serve as a wave
breaker, thus slowing down the speed of tidal waves.
Buildings in the residential areas should be constructed
behind the "walls" of plantation trees and they should be
specially placed, with their corners facing the shore to break
incoming waves.
However, it was not clear how much it would cost the
government to rebuild the cities under the plan.
Minister Freddy Numberi said the damage to infrastructure
suffered by the province's fisheries industry may reach as high
as Rp 10 trillion (US$1.1 billion).
"The losses include ruined ports, fishing boats, freezer
depots, auction markets and fishermen's homes," he told reporters
on the sidelines of a seminar on Evaluating Maritime Affairs and
Fisheries Development in 2004 and Activity Plans for 2005.
He further said that rebuilding fishing villages and coastal
cities in Aceh would need intensive coordination with the
Ministry of Public Housing and the Office of State Minister of
Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises, as well as with
other ministries.
"We are assessing the situation, whether we are to rebuild the
coastal cities or relocate the surviving fishermen to other
provinces," he added.
Nevertheless, the ministry has submitted the proposal to the
National Development Planning Board (Bappenas), which requested
the spatial plan last week.
A staff member at the ministry's directorate general for
coastal areas and small islands, Permana Yudiarso, said in a
presentation to reporters that the ministry and LIPI only made
the technical proposal, while Bappenas and other related
institutions would calculate the needed budget.
He said that if the government approved the proposal, the
concept could also be used to rebuild other cities along the
coastline of Sumatra island, which were prone to tsunamis.
Most coastal cities in the country are located near the
shoreline, like Banda Aceh and Meulaboh, where the tsunamis
killed more than 94,200 people.