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ishermen have demanded that the Jakarta administration and city council reject a draft bylaw on zoning and spatial planning for coastal areas and small islands, which regulates 17 planned man-made islets.

The Indonesian Traditional Fishermen'€™s Association'€™s (KNTI) Jakarta chapter chairman, Muhammad Taher, said Jakarta fishermen would hold a large-scale rally next Tuesday, when the bylaw is set to be approved during a plenary session.

'€œWe will work with all of our might to have the draft bylaw rejected and the land reclamation project canceled,'€ Taher told reporters on the sidelines of a rally at the city council building on Thursday.

He said fishermen had experienced significant losses amid ongoing land reclamation carried out by private developers, and asked that the city administration put a stop to the project. Taher said tens of thousands of fishermen had been negatively affected.

For example, he said, fishing routes were disrupted and boats could not sail freely because of the islets, some of which have begun to take shape. Taher also argued that the waters in which fishermen operated had silted up due to land reclamation and that their income had significantly decreased.

Developers involved in the project, he went on, had not been transparent regarding construction and had not provided an Environmental Impact Analysis (Amdal) document to affected residents.

A notable point in the new draft bylaw is the classification of the islands. According to the document, the islands would be divided into three areas: the West Zone, consisting of islets A through H, which would provide housing; the Central Zone, islets I through M, which would be a commercial area; and the East Zone, with islets N through Q for logistics and sea and air ports.

Under the plan, each islet must have open green space amounting to at least 30 percent of its area, and 5 percent open blue space, such as reservoirs. At least 15 percent of each islet is designated for infrastructure and utilities, such as roads.

Despite rejection from fishermen, however, the bylaw is likely to be approved as most factions in the city council have stated their support for the draft.

The approval was previously scheduled for Monday but was delayed due to a lack of quorum; only 48 of the total 106 councilors attended the plenary session. At least two-thirds of the councilors must be in attendance to approve a bylaw.

Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) faction chairman Jhonny Simanjuntak said the party unanimously supported the draft bylaw in order to regulate the development and activities of private firms involved in the land reclamation project.

The city, Jhonny went on, must also accommodate the needs of those directly affected by the project, such as fishermen. '€œLand reclamation should not only profit large companies, but also poor residents,'€ Jhonny told The Jakarta Post.

Gerindra Party faction chairman Abdul Ghoni told the Post that the party would put its weight behind the bylaw, arguing that the draft was thorough and accommodated the needs of all affected and involved in land reclamation.

NasDem Party faction chairman Bestari Barus said his party also unanimously supported the bylaw, and demanded that the Jakarta administration be consistent with all articles in the bylaw.