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aritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti has asked the Jakarta administration to postpone any permits for the development of artificial islets as part of the Jakarta reclamation project.

The reclamation and sea wall development, officially called the National Capital Integrated Coastal Development (NCICD), is divided into three phases and includes building a sea wall as well as the development of 17 artificial islets off the coast of the city. Susi asked the city administration to delay the development of the artificial islets.

'€œReclamation means that you are reclaiming sea to make land. When you create land in water, you displace water, let'€™s say one ton. This means that there needs to be a place on land in Jakarta to accommodate that ton of water,'€ Susi said during a seminar on conserving maritime resources on the greater Jakarta coast in City Hall in Central Jakarta on Tuesday.

Susi insisted that she was not against the NCICD, but reminded the city administration that without a reservoir to compensate, inundation in Jakarta would get worse. She urged the city administration to develop a reservoir before continuing the reclamation project.

'€œJakarta needs to develop a reservoir to accommodate the water that will no longer have space in the sea due to the development of the artificial islets. Or else the city will be inundated,'€ she said.

Previously, the ministry'€™s director general for marine, coastal and small island affairs, Sudirman Saad, said the central government had suspended the project pending an evaluation. The program was also delayed as two regional administrations '€” West Java and Tangerang '€” had refused to supply sea sand for the project, Sudirman said.

Developers planning to build the islets include city-owned property developer PT Jakarta Propertindo, city-owned PT Pembangunan Jaya Ancol, PT Kapuk Naga Indah, PT Agung Podomoro subsidiary PT Muara Wisesa Samudra, PT Intiland Development'€™s subsidiary Taman Harapan Indah and PT Jaladri Kartika Ekapkasi.

According to Government Regulation No. 26/2008 on national strategic regions, permits for land reclamation should be issued either by the transportation or the maritime affairs and fisheries minister.

In December last year Jakarta Governor Basuki '€œAhok'€ Tjahaja Purnama issued a permit for PT Muara Wisesa Samudra to build an island known as Islet G.

'€œBut this is just my personal opinion. The ministry will also study the license and we will inform the Jakarta administration of our findings. For the ministry, our principle is that no one may take advantage of the ecosystem without providing compensation,'€ Susi said.

She also suggested the city administration buy the ministry'€™s land in Muara Angke, North Jakarta, to develop into a reservoir.

Ahok said the city would comply with Susi'€™s requirements, and agreed that a reservoir was necessary. Ahok cited the Pantai Indah Kapuk (PIK) area in North Jakarta, part of which was reclaimed land, developed by the Agung Sedayu Group.

'€œIf we don'€™t develop a reservoir, then it will flood. For example, we made a mistake with PIK. The city administration did not oblige the developer to build a reservoir to compensate for the reclamation. As a result, North Jakarta'€™s Muara Karang is now often severely inundated,'€ Ahok told reporters in City Hall on Tuesday.

'€œIn the future, all firms seeking to reclaim land will be obliged to help reduce flooding in Jakarta by, for example, developing a reservoir,'€ Ahok said.