Spatial planning violations threaten Bogor environment

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)