Sutiyoso proposes ministry to oversee Greater Jakarta

Damar Harsanto, Jakarta

Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso has suggested that a special ministry for Greater Jakarta be established to help solve problems involving administrations whose areas border the capital.

"We need a (special) ministry to control Greater Jakarta. Or, the government can give more authority to the Jakarta governor to manage problems occurring in the area," he said recently.

Sutiyoso pointed out that many problems affecting areas in Greater Jakarta -- Jakarta, Bogor, Tangerang and Bekasi -- had remained unresolved.

"Many development programs including waste, transportation, housing and flood prevention have hit snags because the programs affect other areas besides Jakarta," he said.

He added that finding solutions for the problems became more complicated following the implementation of the Autonomy Law in 1999 that gives greater autonomy to administrations to handle their own regions.

The idea of establishing such a ministry was first proposed in the 1970s by then governor Ali Sadikin, but to no avail. Jakarta had a special minister to oversee security in the city when the country's first president, Sukarno, was in power.

Trisakti University urban planning expert Yayat Supriatna says, however, that Sutiyoso's idea is unworkable.

"I doubt a special ministry could solve problems in Jakarta. The government once established a joint body to help solve problems in Greater Jakarta but it proved fruitless," he said on Monday.

Yayat said many programs had been suspended due to poor planning and insufficient funding in addition to the unwillingness of neighboring administrations to take part in the projects because they only benefited Jakarta.

The idea of giving more authority to the Jakarta governor has been opposed by the Tangerang administration, which argued that the capital would benefit the most.

Jakarta wants Bekasi to share Bantar Gebang dump and Depok and Bogor to limit construction there to prevent floods in the capital. The three areas, however, are under the jurisdiction of the West Java governor.

In the east, Jakarta needs Tangerang in Banten province to supply clean water.

"That's why Jakarta and its bordering administrations are in dire need of prioritizing their problems and follow up with more detailed planning and financing," Yayat said.

He added that respective administrations should establish a joint task force to tackle problems to ensure the sustainability of programs.

"The government could back up the task force by financially supporting the projects," he said.

Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang and Bekasi signed on May 12 a memorandum of understanding on the conservation of small lakes in those areas in an attempt to mitigate worsening floods as well as to avoid a water crisis.

The small lakes function as water catchments as many of them can retain up to 30 million cubic meters of water. However, many small lakes in Greater Jakarta have been severely damaged or have entirely disappeared.

Out of 198 water bodies in Greater Jakarta, 68 percent of them or 134 do not function properly as water catchments.

Authorities from Banten, West Java, State Minister of the Environment Nabiel Makarim, Minister of Settlement and Regional Infrastructure Soenarno and Minister of Home Affairs Hari Sabarno also witnessed the signing of the memorandum.