The Netherlands to help city mature

JAKARTA (JP): The Netherlands Ministry of Housing, City Planning and the Environment and the Jakarta administration are to launch a joint program to enhance Jakarta's development, an official said yesterday.

"We have talked to Indonesia's minister of environment and the minister of public works, as well as the municipality, to discuss the city's development. We also want to see the Jakarta Bay reclamation project," PJJ Maessen, a spokesman for the Netherlands ministry, told The Jakarta Post after meeting with Governor Sutiyoso at City Hall.

An ad hoc committee will be formed to coordinate the efforts of Dutch and Indonesian experts who are expected to come up with strategies for developing the capital.

"We will have a training session for Jakarta officials who are involved in city development projects," Maessen said.

The Netherlands Minister of Housing, City Planning and the Environment, Margreeth de Boer, told the Post a handbook on the city's development plans is to be prepared by the experts.

"The book will contain every aspect of development, ranging from planning to the environmental impacts to be considered," she said.

"Basically in Jakarta we have three big issues to deal with: the low-cost housing, the river pollution and the flood danger during the rainy season.

"Indonesia and the Netherlands share similar problems, such as the rise of the sea level and the land-sinking problem. I think what we have done in the Netherlands to cope with such problems can be implemented here."

Sutiyoso told the Post that the cooperation was in line with the municipality's program to clean up the riverbanks and create a better housing environment for the city's 9.5 million people.

"The revitalization of Sunda Kelapa Port, the reclamation project and the renovation of Jakarta's old city are crucial for Jakarta," he said. "I think this cooperation will make it possible for Jakarta to have better city planning in the future."

Sutiyoso also briefed his Dutch guests about the municipality's programs on regreening, cleaning up rivers and tourist developments in Jakarta.

Among the guests of honor attending the meeting were: the ambassador of the Netherlands, P.R. Brouwer; the Netherlands Deputy Director for International Environment Affairs Van Ziijst; the head of the city's environmental bureau Aboejoewono Aboeprajitno and other high-ranking officials. (07)