Spatial planning violations threaten Bogor environment

BOGOR, West Java (JP): Violations of the area's spatial planning have led to the deterioration of Bogor's environment, from development in the Puncak mountain resort to building on riverbanks.

Rokhin Dahuri of the Bogor Agriculture Institute said yesterday that real estate development and infrastructure construction in other areas such as Parung and Cileungsi have sacrificed forests mainly comprising rubber trees.

Rokhin, an expert at the institute's Environmental Research Center, said the environmental problems that Jakarta has must be avoided as much as possible in the capital's surrounding areas including Bogor.

But violations need different approaches, he said.

Violations of spatial planning in Puncak, blamed for floods earlier this year, attracted attention as high up as the Ministry of Environment and the Attorney General's office.

Addressing building on riverbanks, Rokhin said, needs an approach which recognizes that the violations are done by residents who seem to have no other option.

Unlike cases in Puncak, "the law cannot be enforced without understanding why residents violate the spatial plans, maybe they do not have money to buy land and homes," Rokhin said.

Large rivers like the Ciliwung and Cisadane should be free of buildings by 100 meters on both sides.

Meanwhile, smaller rivers less than 20 meters wide should be free of buildings by at least 50 meters on both sides.

"But we can see that along the Ciliwung and Cisadane, the areas of Lebak Pasar, Sempur and Lebak Kantin are full of homes despite the high risk to the dwellers," he said.

Rokhin said other environmental problems are the pollution of the Ciliwung River, air pollution particularly in markets and in intercity bus terminals, and mounds of garbage around markets.

The water of the Ciliwung is increasingly worse downstream, Rokhin said.

In markets and bus terminals the air contains high concentrations of dust, lead and other pollutants, he added.

Garbage management faces similar constraints as in Jakarta -- a lack of trucks for one.

Yulman, the regency's head of sanitation and environment section, said Bogor needs 70 trucks instead of its current 54 trucks.

"We can only manage 1,369 cubic meters per day from the daily production of around 1,423 cubic meters," he said.

The disposal site is two hours away from Bogor which creates a waste of time, Yulman said, and is 500 meters away from a residential site.

Regarding open green spaces, Rokhin said "Bogor is already following in the steps of Jakarta, as green spaces have been converted to residential sites or shopping centers".

The historical 87-hectare Botanical Gardens are about the only green space left, he said.

However, during the garden's commemoration of its 179th anniversary on May 18, the director, Suhirman, said even the gardens are being sacrificed for the development of the town.

Suhirman had said there should be open spaces around the gardens, but shopping centers built near the gardens have led to congestion and pollution.

Better town planning needs to support the gardens' existence, he said. (21/anr)