H

uge banners were held and the rallying cry “stop reclamation” was chanted as hundreds of fishermen packed Muara Angke Port in North Jakarta on Sunday morning.

Male and female fisheries workers, along with members of several civil society organizations, gathered to call for a stop to the ongoing multi-trillion rupiah projects off Jakarta’s coast, in the area they say used to supply them with abundant fish.

“Reclamation projects have made fishermen’s lives difficult,” said one of the fishermen “I am ready to die [to fight] against them.”

“Say no to reclamation,” said another.

A few minutes later, the fishermen boarded dozens of boats and slowly moved to Islet G, one of 17 planned man-made islets. Of the 17, construction has begun on three, including Islet G, which is being developed by Agung Podomoro Land subsidiary PT Muara Wisesa Samudra.

Sunday’s rally was closely watched by a number of sturdy men, reportedly security guards employed by PT Muara Wisesa, who told the fishermen to stay in one part of the island.

“This was once the sea, a place where we used to catch fish. It is now a man-made island. This sand has taken away our living,” fisherman Mohammad Taher said as he poured sand on his body.

Other fishermen walked around and took selfies. Some of them were heard cursing the island.

“I want to spit on this cursed island. I want to step on it,” said one of them.

The fishermen also shared a group prayer, asking for God’s help to prevent the reclamation projects from materializing.

Before leaving the island, the crowd symbolically sealed it and urged Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama to stop reclamation activities in the area because they were severely damaging the environment and causing fish to leave.

Fisherman Diding Setiawan said his earnings had greatly diminished since the reclamation work began. He said fish in the area had either fled or been killed by mud stirred up or dumped by the reclamation work.

“In the past, I earned up to Rp 4 million (US$305) a day. Now, I only earn Rp 300,000. Sometimes I do not earn anything,” he said.

Diding also responded to Ahok’s previous statement that the fishermen opposing the reclamation were not real fishermen.

“Ahok needs to come and meet us here to check. I am ready to prepare his food if he gets on my boat,” said the man who has lived in Muara Angke since 1974.

This was the fishermen’s first mass rally on the reclaimed area. Their campaign against the projects gained momentum when a bribery case surrounding construction permits for the work was uncovered recently.

The fishermen had previously filed a petition with the Jakarta Administrative Court (PTUN) against the permit for Islet G, which Ahok issued in 2014. The legal process is ongoing.

One participant of the rally, who preferred to stay anonymous, said support for the fishermen had grown since the KPK revealed the bribery, adding that in the past, only certain groups had given them support.

“Now, even a political party has a flag here,” he said.

On Wednesday, House of Representatives Commission IV overseeing fisheries and maritime affairs and the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry agreed to declare the project illegal and order the Jakarta administration to freeze the work permits.

Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti said that the reclamation plan had thus far ignored the interests of the public, with property and port development taking up the majority of plot usage on the reclaimed land.

The delay will provide time for the government to assess whether the plans meet legal and environmental requirements.

Ahok responded on Sunday, as reported by beritajakarta.com, that the administration could not stop the reclamation because developers would sue and ask to be paid back their losses, which would amount to trillions of rupiah.

Aside from Muara Wisesa, property and development firms involved in the projects include Agung Sedayu Group subsidiary PT Kapuk Naga Indah, city-owned Jakarta Propertindo and PT Pembangunan Jaya Ancol, and PT Jaladri Kartika Pakci. These and other developers secured controversial permits to develop the artificial islets, planned to cover an area of 5,155 hectares, or half of Bogor city.

The reclamation became controversial after the public learned that Ahok has issued a permit to PT Muara Wisesa Samudra to reclaim Islet G before the City Council even finalized a draft bylaw on zoning and spatial planning that will directly impact on the reclaimed islands.

The Indonesian Traditional Fishermen’s Association (KNTI) argue that Jakarta Bay qualifies as a national strategic area, the management of which should be administered by the central government, not a local administration. Therefore, KNTI said, the permit should have been issued by the Indonesian Marine and Fisheries Department, not the Jakarta administration.