A group calling itself the Citizens Coalition for Jakarta 2030 plans to submit a legal warning to Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo today.
The administration had ignored its requests to engage the public in creating a 20-year plan for the city, the group said, adding that it would ask Fauzi to delay the submission of the draft spatial plan to City Council, and completely revise its contents.
“How can the city administration claim the spatial plan draft they recently endorsed was made for the benefit of Jakarta residents, when it did not ask Jakarta residents to share their dreams and ideas about the future of their city?” coalition member and city planning expert Marco Kusumawijaya said Sunday.
The coalition also says Jakarta administration violated regulations, including the 2007 Law on Spatial Planning and the 2008 Law on Public Information, in the formulation of the draft.
“According to the 2008 Law on Public Information, for example, all citizens have a right to obtain copies of any public information from public organizations,” said Ivan Pulungan, a coalition member and researcher for the Indonesian Center for Environmental Law.
“Instead of informing residents of its reasoning behind the endorsed spatial plan draft, the administration has ridiculously decided to limit access to the academic draft made by their team of experts, saying it is subject to copyright.”
Marco and Ivan also confirmed that the coalition would consider taking the case to court should their warning letter receive no response within two weeks.
“It’s not a matter of winning or losing, but waking up the administration and public so that we actually have a chance — right now — to discuss together how to create a better Jakarta,” Marco said.
The 2007 Law on Spatial Planning requires that each province submit proposals for new spatial plans two years after it was issued, while regencies or cities have three years.
As of February only 10 provinces (including South Sulawesi, Bali, Lampung, North Maluku, West
Java and West Papua) had secured Public Works Ministry approval for spatial plans.
Jakarta is one of five provinces that hadn’t submitted a proposal to the ministry.
Established in December last year, the coalition has repeatedly criticized the administration’s handling of public consultation, as it had only involved experts in most of its discussions, while not inviting residents likely to be affected directly by its plans.
“Let’s ask fishermen in Marunda, North Jakarta, for example,” said Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH) director Nurkholis Hidayat, who had helped the group draft its letter to Fauzi.
“How many of them already know the administration plans to turn this area into an international port?”
Earlier, the city administration announced plans to convert Marunda into a special economic zone (SEZ) to serve logistics purposes.
According to the plan, the port would commence operations within the next three years.
As a way to build public awareness about the formulation of spatial plans, the coalition also conducted a survey aimed at identifying residents’ problems and wishes for the city over the next 20 years.
As of last week more than 2,000 residents had completed the survey, which is expected to run until April.
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