The reclamation

The reclamation

Do we think that the Jakarta administration is really aware of
its deteriorating environment?

If the answer is yes, then what makes the governor adamant to
push ahead with the controversial reclamation of the northern
coastal area?

The Ministry of Resettlement and Regional Infrastructure has
rejected the Rp 20 trillion project, arguing it will cause more
problems in dealing with flooding.

The office of the State Minister of the Environment, the
institution considered the most credible in environmental
affairs, has also rejected the project, which will reclaim 500
hectares from the sea and revitalize 2,700 hectares of coastal
area. According to the office, the reclamation project would
increase sea levels by up to 12 centimeters. Reclamation could
also spark conflicts as thousands of fishermen in Kamal Muara,
Muara Angke, Muara Baru and Kampung Luar Batang could lose their
jobs. The marine ecosystem would also be damaged by the project
which will need 330 million cubic meters of sand. In short the
office is seeking ways to have the presidential Instruction on
the reclamation of the city's northern coastal areas and Teluk
Naga be revoked.

Acknowledging those clear reasonable arguments, we can not
understand why the governor has vowed to continue with the
project.

Plans for the area have sparked controversy since development
plans for Pantai Mutiara in North Jakarta in 1990 when Jakarta
was governed by Wiyogo Atmodarminto.

Another controversial plan was made by PT Pembangunan Jaya
Ancol, which would reclaim 400 hectares of the coast in Ancol in
1993. The plan was feared to cause serious sedimentation at the
Tanjung Priok seaport.

In 1994, then president Soeharto approved the reclamation of
1,500 hectares of coastal area for a housing and business center.
All relevant ministries and government institutions did not show
any resistance to the plan. The Ministry of Public Works agreed
to the plan. Later, people found out the prospective developer
was one of Soeharto's daughters.

Then governor Surjadi Soedirdja said that developing the
crowded city to the south would be impossible as the southern
part of Jakarta was designated as a water catchment area. To the
east was also impossible as it would victimize irrigated farm
land. "Waterfront city is the only choice to develop Jakarta and
we will go north to the coastal areas," Surjadi said at that
time. But, with adequate environmental awareness, he said that
the reclamation project must not create serious environmental
damage. He wanted thorough and careful studies made first.

Annual flooding on the toll road leading to the Soekarno-Hatta
International Airport is believed to be the result of the
reclamation of the swampy Kapuk area, also in North Jakarta,
several years ago.

Now that regional autonomy is in place, provincial
administrations are entitled to manage their own provinces
without the interference of the central government.

Defying environmental warnings from the office of the State
Minister of Environment and the Ministry of Resettlement and
Infrastructure, Sutiyoso said the plan to reclaim 32-kilometers
of coast would go ahead. He argued that reclaiming the northern
coastal area would be the only answer to the steady increase in
population.

Sutiyoso said that the Law No. 27/1999 annuls the central
government's right to analyze the environmental damage (Amdal) on
the reclamation project in Jakarta. While, according to the
Indonesian Center for Environmental Law (ICEL), Article 11 of the
Law allows the team established by the Office of the State
Ministry of the Environment to conduct environmental studies on
the reclamation plan.

While the two institutions have their own perception of the
Law, we do suggest that all possible environmental, social and
economic damage due to the reclamation be taken into serious
consideration before a decision is made.

Sloppy planning could lead to an incessant environmental
disaster, to be dealt with by the next generations.

That's why Sutiyoso's recent statements that reclamation in
Singapore and Tokyo had been successful, and thus Jakarta must be
able to do the same thing, are irrelevant.

The lofty and zealous statements are the very evidence that he
fails to be objective. Everybody knows that Jakarta is totally
different from Singapore and Tokyo. Naturally, Jakarta is
vulnerable to flooding, which the government and the city
administration have never been able to control. Flooding has been
getting worse and worse from year to year.

Could the candid reality make the city administration
acknowledge and more aware that Jakarta will not match either
Singapore or Tokyo, which - without Sutiyoso's knowledge - must
have prepared everything to deal with the possible impact caused
by their reclamation projects?

Let's be realistic and not make things worse. Jakarta is no
Singapore or Tokyo. Jakarta is Jakarta with its myriad problems
the administration has not dealt with properly for decades.