Surjadi calls for cool heads in the case of Bira Island
Surjadi calls for cool heads in the case of Bira Island
By Stevie Emilia
JAKARTA (JP): Governor Surjadi Soedirdja said yesterday the case of Bira Island should not be blown out of proportion.
"We have to analyze the real situation, the real problem of Bira Island. We have to solve this case with a cool head. Please don't get carried away emotionally as we have to check where the fault really is," Surjadi said.
On Tuesday, city councilors pressured the governor to take over the Bira Island case following President Soeharto's expression of concern about the environmental destruction there. The President underlined the importance of restoring the environment.
The governor said that one of the city administration's obligations is to serve the public. "The city tries to do its best to serve the public in order not to make them suffer. But the public should also know that there are rules that changed during a certain period of time."
He said the city administration issued its first permit for the usage of land on the island back in 1973. "At that time I was not the governor yet," he added.
"We have to know when the environmental impact analysis regulation was issued for the first time by the city administration. It was long after the permit for Bira Island was issued. A long time ago, we only used to do an environmental evaluation study something like that, but the situation has changed now," Surjadi said.
The environmental impact analysis is a mandatory assessment, a report on which must be presented by developers to the concerned governmental agencies to ensure that any development will not produce unwanted effects in the surrounding environment.
Aboejoewono Aboeprajitno, head of the city's Environment Office and also the secretary of the environmental impact analysis commission, said that the commission will announce the findings of the environmental impact analysis regarding the extent of the destruction to the island.
Governor Surjadi emphasized that the matter should be resolved as soon as possible. "But we also have to remember that there are many problems faced by the city administration that should be solved too."
Tjokropranolo, who was Jakarta governor from 1977 to 1982, told the Kompas daily yesterday that he was deeply concerned at the fact that the developer of Bira Island has developed large segments of the island into a golf course.
"We have to remember what President Soeharto said, we have to prevent the island from being destroyed environmentally. We have to preserve the existence of the island as it used to be, instead of changing it into a golf course," he said.
"Besides that, I wonder why people would want to play golf there? They have to cross the sea just to play a round of golf," he added.
On Thursday, Deputy Governor for Development Affairs Idroes ordered the environmental impact analysis team to summon executives of the developer, PT. Pulau Seribu Paradise and PT. Consartha Indomartra, the developer's consulting firm.
The head of the legal affairs department of PT Pulau Seribu Paradise, Jafar Tirtosentono, said that the developer has developed the golf course in line with the Land Use Permit issued in 1973. He said the company had renewed the permit on Jan. 6, 1994, with the knowledge and approval of the Jakarta administration.
"I don't think that we have violated the law as we built the golf course with the approval of the municipal administration," he told The Jakarta Post by phone. He added that the administration also allowed the company to build bungalows on the island. According to Jafar, the island belongs to PT Patra Jasa, a subsidiary of Pertamina, the state-owned oil company.
Under existing regulations, the developer must set aside 40 percent of the island for greenery. Instead of obeying the regulation, the developer put in the golf course and provided a plot of land for the green area on nearby Panjang Island.
On Tuesday, Aboejoewono complained about the slowness of the consulting firm which was ordered to do the environmental impact analysis.
"We are also dissatisfied with the results of the study conducted by the consulting firm. At the moment we are trying to find experts to replace the officials of the consulting firm in order to meet the environmental impact analysis commission's qualifications," Jafar said.
He denied reports that the city had turned down the results of their study.
"It is not true that our study has been turned down by the city administration. The city gave it back to us so we can correct mistakes in it," he said.