Ministry building resumes construction

Mustaqim Adamrah ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Thu, 06/12/2008 10:18 AM  |  City

Construction on the Religion Affairs Ministry's former building on Jl. M.H. Thamrin, Central Jakarta, reportedly resumed last Saturday even though the ministry has not submitted numerous required studies.

Jakarta Property Management and Control Agency head Hari Sasongko said Wednesday his agency had allowed the construction to continue after a planner had gone through required procedures.

The planners had presented their studies in front of members of a city-appointed team tasked with supervising building construction, Hari said at City Hall on Wednesday.

"The studies showed the planners had only exploited water from areas where they planned to fix pillars, and they used a sump pit to recharge the water they had exploited back into the ground."

Construction of a basement usually involves groundwater mining so the pillars can be fixed into the ground and structures will be free of corrosion.

A sump pit is used to temporarily contain water excavated in a construction site.

The water in a sump pit may be recharged to the ground or be channeled to canal.

The agency previously suspended the building's construction on May 27 as the planners were yet to submit a study on the impact the construction would have on groundwater.

The suspension followed inspections on April 17 by the city's mining agency head Peni Susanti and a number of members of the City Council's Commission D on development.

They found construction workers had been discharging groundwater in order to fix pillars into the ground and had been channeling the water to a nearby river, detik.com reported.

Peni said the discharged water should have been piped back into the ground because groundwater exploitation could cause land subsidence.

The city mining agency said land subsidence had accelerated in business districts where numerous high-rise buildings had been built. The buildings are also thought to be depleting aquifers in addition to compressing the land.

Approximately 80 percent of the city's land subsidence is caused by building construction, 17 percent by groundwater exploitation and 3 percent by natural causes, the agency claims.

Groundwater exploitation for the ministry's construction has resulted in land subsidence of parking garages on Jl. M.H. Thamrin.

In contrast to Hari's statement, the supervisory team's chairman, Gde Widiadnyana Merati, said the construction should not be allowed to resume as the planners were yet to submit "more required studies".

In addition, Jakarta Environmental Management Agency head Budirama Natakusumah said the planners had asked the agency to issue an environmental impact analysis (AMDAL).

"Our agency is still processing the AMDAL required for the construction. We are yet to issue recommendations, thus the construction shouldn't have resumed," he said.

The city agency tasked with supervising building construction should be held responsible for allowing the construction to resume, he said.

Governor Fauzi Bowo said the construction must be suspended again if the planners had not met all the requirements.

No official statement has been released by the planners.

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