VP calls for review of reclamation plan

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Vice President Hamzah Haz told the city administration on Tuesday to review the plan to reclaim 2,500 hectares of coastal area in North Jakarta, underlining that it needs comprehensive study to determine the social and environmental implications.

"The environmental impact, not only economic benefits, should be considered," Hamzah told reporters after the opening of a seminar on Indonesian Maritime Economic Development here.

He said the city administration should also consider the social costs.

"If the reclamation does not have economic value for the people, particularly the creation of jobs, it should be reconsidered," Hamzah was quoted by Antara as saying.

The city administration is intensively seeking support for the reclamation of 2,500 hectares of sea and revitalization of 2,700 hectares of coastal areas in North Jakarta. The project was originally introduced by then president Soeharto in 1995.

The administration organized a number of events: seminar, discussion and workshop involving experts, and non-governmental activists in trying to gauge public opinion about the importance of the project.

But environmental activists warned that the reclamation project could kill fauna and flora in the sea and coastal areas as well as increase the incidence of flooding in the city.

While the social impacts include the loss of jobs for thousands of poor fishermen who depend on the sea for a livelihood and thousands of other people who would have to move from their homes to make way for the project.