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.