T

he Surabaya city administration has declined a central government idea to create a special agency that would manage the Suramadu or Surabaya-Madura area.

Surabaya Mayor Bambang Dwi Hartono said his administration had planned to transform part of the Suramadu area in North Surabaya into a beach resort and fish trading hub, adopting a "waterfront city concept" where the development would spread around the seafront.

"We have drawn up a 2007-2015 Surabaya spatial plan that will transform North Surabaya into a beach resort. Meanwhile, we'll designate beach areas in East Surabaya for conversion due to the area's potential *to grow* mangroves," he said.

He added he did not mind if a special agency managed the 600-hectare part of the Suramadu area that was located in Surabaya and transformed it into a business and industrial area, as long as the city administration still held the authority to issue "building permits, trading business permits and zoning permits".

But the administration, he said, had set aside Rp 18 billion from this year's city budget to build a fish and sea product market in Bulak, as well as facilities and two main streets to access the Suramadu Bridge, connecting Surabaya to Madura Island.

Bambang said the fish and sea product market project began in May and was expected to be completed in 2010.

There will be two main buildings in the market, one for processing, and the other for processed products and fresh fish trading, he said. There will also be a food court.

According to a 2008 presidential decree, the special agency is authorized to manage the 1,200-hectare Suramadu area, 600 hectares of which are located in Surabaya and the rest in Madura.

This regulation, however, conflicts with a 2004 Law on Regional Autonomy and a 2007 local ordinance on building permits, said Bambang.

Not only would the special agency be authorized to manage the area, it would also hold part of the central government and local administration's powers to issue permits to operate in the area, he said.

On the other hand, the East Java administration is likely to have its own plan, since it already has its own "grand strategy" to offer to the special agency, said Governor Soekarwo.

He said the 600-hectare area in Surabaya would be used for office buildings, a tourism site and a trading hub, while the Madura part would be developed into a trading hub and a port in Tanjung Bumi, Bangkalan, expected to support manufacturers' distribution chains.