Tangerang faces natural resources problems
Multa Fidrus, Tangerang
The Tangerang municipality is facing natural resources problems resulting from overpopulation, migration and industrialization.
Municipal secretary Harry Mulya Zain said on Wednesday, at the opening of West Java Environmental Management Project (WJEMP) training on urban environmental management strategy, that the natural resources problems covered groundwater, parks, flooding, and pollution of the atmosphere and of rivers caused by vehicular emissions and the activities of industrial firms.
"If such problems are not handled properly, they will threaten people's health and we will never be able to put right the environmental damage," he said.
Harry said the administration would likely make changes in its policies and future plans for development.
"Therefore, we call on those involved in the issue, including businesspeople, to increase their participation in protecting the environment," he said.
The administration plans in the near future to formulate a coordinated policy on the environment, upholding bylaws on the use of land based on its specified functions, tightening controls on the use of groundwater, destroying shacks along riverbanks and building a proper drainage system.
Tangerang municipality is home to some 800 industrial firms located in Batu Ceper, Jatiuwung and Benda districts. Tangerang regency, meanwhile, is the base for more than 2,000 industrial firms, spread out in Pasar Kemis, Cikupa, Balaraja, Curug, Legog and Serpong.
In June, Tangerang Mayor Wahidin Halim identified nine industrial firms as responsible for polluting the municipality and another 83 for their failure to provide details on how they disposed of hazardous waste.
Separately, Tangerang regency council followed up its effort to halt a reclamation project by two companies at Dadap beach, Kosambi district, by summoning officials from PT Koperasi Pasir Putih and PT Parung Harapan.
"Only officials from PT Parung Harapan were here and met with Commission D [which oversees development affairs]. There was no clear explanation made by top company executive Willy Sutopo," said councillor Sys Abdulgani.
The council received information from the regency tourism agency, the spatial and building layout agency, the maritime affairs and fisheries agency and the public order agency that both developers had yet to obtain the permits necessary for the reclamation.
"They don't even have environmental impact analyses, which are required for any development projects," he said.
The reclamation has destroyed the mangrove forest and marine life and forced fishermen to become scavengers to survive.
Sys said that based on Willy's information, the company had been given a recommendation to continue with the reclamation from Deddy S., former tourism agency head.
The company claimed it had spent Rp 100 million (US$11,330) on obtaining the recommendation.
Kosambi district chief Rudi Maesal said he had already issued a letter ordering a halt to the reclamation but the companies had ignored it.
He said the letter was issued after the district surveyed the 10-hectare reclamation site late last year and found that work had commenced without permission.