T

he Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) says its investigation into the multitrillion-rupiah Jakarta Bay reclamation megaproject has confirmed that the project contravenes the law.

KPK legal experts had been examining regulations relating to the reclamation following the arrest of PT Agung Podomoro Land (APL) director Ariesman Widjaja on suspicion of bribing Jakarta city councillor Mohamad Sanusi to expedite the issuance of a zoning bylaw regarding the reclamation area.

The regulations in question include Presidential Decree No. 52/1995 on land reclamation regarding the Jakarta coast issued by then president Soeharto, Law No. 27/2007 on coastal area and islet management, Law No. 54/2008 on spatial planning management in Jakarta, Depok, Tangerang, Puncak and Cianjur and Presidential Regulation No. 122/2012 on reclamation of coastal areas and islets, issued by then president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Despite a lack of necessary bylaws, including zoning regulations, the Jakarta administration, now led by Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama, has since 2014 issued a number of permits for developers, including APL, to start construction on the reclaimed land.

KPK commissioner Laode Muhammad Syarif said that after thorough study of the regulations, commission investigators had concluded that the Jakarta administration had no right to issue permits for the Jakarta Bay reclamation projects.

Laode further said that the projects came under the jurisdiction of two provinces, namely Jakarta and neighboring Banten; as such, it is related ministries, including the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry and the Environment and Forestry Ministry, that have the right to issue permits for the project, rather than the Jakarta administration.

“According to the most updated regulations, if a reclamation project covers more than one province, then it must be handled nationally and the leading institutions are related ministries,” Laode said on Tuesday.

The Jakarta administration, he added, should have studied the related regulations before issuing permits for development.

Laode lauded the recent joint decision by Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Rizal Ramli, Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry officials and Ahok to temporarily halt the projects and disentangle the legal mess.

The commission, he went on, expects related institutions to consider economic, environmental and social aspects in settling the legal disputes plaguing the controversial projects.

In addition, KPK chairman Agus Raharjo said that following the arrest of Sanusi and Ariesman, the antigraft body had shifted its attention to scrutinizing the legality of other reclamation projects underway across the country.

“We’re not just looking at Jakarta, we’re also looking at Makassar and Bali. We hope the projects in those provinces do comply with existing regulations,” Agus said.

On Friday, Siti said the environmental impact analysis (Amdal) on the Jakarta reclamation project was deeply flawed, failing to take into account the environmental degradation caused by sand dredging in coastal areas of Banten.

Besides inadequate environmental assessment, Siti also pointed out that despite the megaproject, divided into 17 islets from A to Q, having incomplete Amdal documentation, construction was already up and running.

A KPK investigation into the bribery allegations surrounding the projects has so far seen Ariesman and Sanusi named suspects, as well as two other APL employees. In the days subsequent to the arrest of Ariesman, the commission moved to impose travel bans on PT Agung Sedayu Group (ASG) owner Sugianto “Aguan” Kusuma and his son and ASG president director Richard Halim Kusuma, as well as a special advisor to Ahok, Sunny Tanuwidjaja.

The KPK implicated Aguan in the case after collecting preliminary evidence that his company had also bribed Sanusi to ensure the swift issuance of the zoning bylaw, which as been left in limbo by the arrest of the councillor.
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