Tangerang's small lakes in poor condition

Tangerang's small lakes in poor condition

Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post/Tangerang

Crucial during the upcoming wet season, 22 small lakes in several
districts of Tangerang regency are now in a poor condition.

Most of the lakes are dry and shallow, some have even been
reclaimed by housing developers.

The Jakarta Post observed on Thursday that one small lake in
Pondok Ranji village, Ciputat, is now used as a large dump by
residents, while part of its banks have been reclaimed to build
business premises.

"The lake is so heavily polluted now, no fish live there
anymore," said M. Soekarso, a retired Army officer who lives
nearby.

Most of Tujuh Muara lake in Pamulang has also been reclaimed
by the developer of Vila Pamulang housing complex, despite strong
protest from the housing complex residents.

According to Yulianto, chief of the utility division at the
Tangerang Public Works and Irrigation Agency, it was still not
clear which government agency was authorized to manage the small
lakes.

"The lakes are still under the West Java administration. It
has yet to hand over the authority to the Banten administration,"
he said.

"Both residents and housing developers can easily reclaim land
on the banks of the lakes without fear of being stopped by the
administration, because they can argue that there is no
certificate to state the ownership status of the lakes," he
added.

Tangerang regency is part of the Banten administration which
was established in 2000. The area was formerly under the
jurisdiction of the West Java administration.

Regent Ismet Iskandar, however, argued that Law No. 7/2004 on
Natural Conservation gives the legal basis for his office to
manage the small lakes.

"We are drafting a bylaw that will give us the authority to
manage the lakes. We have even started the project to
rehabilitate Garukgak lake in Kresek district, which can be a
potential water catchment for Kresek, Kemiri and Kronjo
districts," he told the Post on Thursday.

The Italian government agreed on a debt swap scheme in July
with the Ministry of Settlements and Regional Infrastructure to
rehabilitate as many as 100 small lakes in Greater Jakarta,
including Tangerang.

The rehabilitation project would be held for three years,
financed by the state budget.

The project is aimed at alleviating the annual flooding in
Jakarta.