Surjadi blames poor for development chaos

JAKARTA (JP): Governor Surjadi Soedirdja has blamed poor people, particularly the huge number of migrants who flock to the city, for causing the current disorder in the capital's development.

Their presence made it difficult for the administration to rectify mistakes made in the city's spatial plan, the outgoing governor said yesterday.

"These people live on riverbanks and occupy state-owned land all over the city. They create problems for us while we're struggling to put the disrupted development back in order," Surjadi told a seminar on geology.

Working-class people only considered their individual financial circumstances, instead of referring to the city's spatial plan, when deciding where to live, he said.

"And because of this, Jakarta has now become a mess."

However, Surjadi said, there was no reason for the administration to stop the plan even though there had been mistakes and problems in its implementation.

"It's difficult to put the development back in order. It's a dilemma for us but the administration will always do everything it can to improve the disorder in the city's development," he said.

Urban planners recently blamed the capital's haphazard development on the inconsistency of the administration's implementation of the spatial plan.

The inconsistency was caused because most of the development was being coordinated by people with strong financial clout.

In his speech, Surjadi also urged geologists to help the municipality collate data to improve the city's future development.

He said the city's plan was not backed up with complete geological data, which was essential for underground construction.

"But, we can't wait until all the data has been accumulated. We need accurate data on the geological situation to provide a strong basis for our spatial plan," Surjadi said.

The city's development -- both vertical and horizontal -- should be based on the spatial plan, he said.

"Unfortunately many projects have been built without considering the designated use of the land," Surjadi said.

It was partly understandable, due to the limited availability of geological data, he said.

"But to implement future development city we urgently need an underground master plan, which has to be supported with accurate geological data." (ste)