WALHI blames zoning plan for recent floods
WALHI blames zoning plan for recent floods
JAKARTA (JP): The confusing zoning and spatial plans in West Java and Jakarta were the main cause of the recent floods in the capital, according to the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi).
The enforcement planning regulations has been weak, Arimbi Heroepoetri, the Forum's manager of legal programs, said in a statement released on Saturday.
"Walhi refutes the theory that the flood was merely a natural cycle. The floods were mostly caused by human factors," Arimbi said.
She said that the flood, which hit around 50 locations in Jakarta early last week, was evidence of the damage done to the eco system by people's lack of respect for the environment.
According to Walhi, undervaluing mangroves has been a mistake. Mangrove forests, which function as buffers protecting low-lying areas from floods, have been vanishing. The organization highlighted that the administration failed to preserve the 25- hectare mangrove forest in Muara Angke, and also allowed a private developer to build office and luxurious housing complexes, called Pantai Indah Kapuk, on another 500-hectare mangrove forest.
The project has however been legalized, as has a plan to reclaim 34 sq km of the North Jakarta coastal area and another site in Teluk Naga, Tangerang, West Java.
Walhi also cited the construction of villas and bungalows in the Puncak resort area in Bogor, West Java, as another factor that triggered the biggest flood in the last 20 years in Jakarta. The construction of housing complexes in the southern part of Jakarta and Bogor has played a significant role in worsening the environment, Arimbi said.
"It's a surprise that the decision and policy makers have not been moved by the evidence to take comprehensive steps to deal with the floods. As long as respect for environmental regulations is still poor, flood problems will become standard," she said.
Walhi is demanding stricter enforcement of existing laws and the publicizing of city development plans. Arimbi said. "Residents who will be affected by any projects deserve detailed information before the project is carried out."
The environmentalists' forum also wants the Jakarta and West Java development patterns to be reviewed, especially the development of infrastructures supporting the industrial estates. "The burden on Jakarta and West Java as centers of industry, the economy and education should be reduced," she said.
The construction of toll and ring roads needs to be reviewed, too, as it has lured developers and people to build houses and other buildings, which all damage the groundwater reservation system, she said.
Hydrological functions of coastal areas must be given special attention by, among other things, reviewing the decision to reclaim the North Jakarta coast. "Walhi cannot accept the city administration's decision to blame riverbank squatters for the flood without taking any action against those building villas in upper stream areas and those reclaiming the coasts," Arimbi said. (sur)