Sutiyoso pledges to get back Thousand Islands

Sutiyoso pledges to get back Thousand Islands

JAKARTA (JP): Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso pledged on Monday to
get back some islands in the Pulau Seribu (Thousand Islands
group) which are currently been managed privately by certain
conglomerates.

"I agree that the islands should be returned to the city
administration and managed by the administration itself,"
Sutiyoso told reporters.

He said he would order the new regent of the islands, which
are soon be inaugurated as a regency, to identify those islands
that were privately managed.

He said his administration would change the policy adopted by
previous administration officials regarding the management of the
islands making up the Thousand Islands chain, .

"We will change the policy, but we will also stick to the
letter of the law. There must be a legal basis for taking back
the islands," Sutiyoso said at City Hall.

According to the Government Regulation No. 55/2001 on the
Thousand Islands regency, the regency, which will consist of 110
islands, is to come under the jurisdiction of the city
administration.

The Thousand Islands chain comprises 110 islands, but some 40
islands are reportedly owned or managed by private companies. The
larger of the remaining 70 islands are home to about 17,000
inhabitants, while most of the smaller ones are uninhabited.

Some senior officials in the State Secretariat, the
institution which played the paramount role in issuing permits
for the use of the islands, reportedly manage several islands
themselves.

Some of the privately managed islands have been converted into
tourist destinations, such as Bidadari, Putri and Matahari, while
the others are used for private purposes by some conglomerates.

In contrast to the privately managed islands, those which are
inhabited by indigenous islanders are very backward as many of
them lack potable water and electricity.

City councillors have called on the city administration to get
the islands back in accordance with the spirit of regional
autonomy.

The deputy chairman of the Council's Commission A for
administrative and legal affairs, Syarifien Maloko, was of the
view that the private islands' owners had at least violated the
requirement to provide 40 percent of the land for social and
public facilities.

Another councillor, Abdul Azis Matnur, alleged many had also
violated zoning regulations, causing environmental damage.

Some islands have reportedly suffered extensive degradation
while others have disappeared beneath the waves due to illegal
sand extraction to provide building materials for the development
of the private islands.

Environmental damage to a coral reef was reportedly occasioned
when a businessman connected to powerholders at the center built
a golf course on his island.

The island chain, which at the moment constitutes a district
of the North Jakarta mayoralty, will be enlarged into two
districts so as to satisfy the requirements for it to become a
regency.

The business magnates who reportedly own the islands include
property tycoon Ciputra, publisher Surya Paloh, banker Tommy
Winata and hotelier Pontjo Sutowo.

Former President Soeharto's children, including Sigit
Harjojudanto, Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana, and Bambang Trihatmodjo,
as well as Soeharto's half-brother Probosutedjo, reportedly also
own some of the islands.(jun)