R

eclamation should only be a last resort after other efforts to enhance land supply have been exhausted, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti says.

Responding to a question from an Indonesian student attending a gathering at the Indonesian Embassy in Vienna on Sunday evening, Susi said President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo had given a clear guideline for reclamation projects.

“The President has underlined that reclamation shall not harm stakeholders, especially fishermen, the environment and prevailing regulations,” Susi said.

The government has suspended the Jakarta Bay reclamation project as doubts have been raised over the environmental impact and benefits the project could bring for the general public. The decision came after top executives of a property giant awarded permits for the project and a city council member were arrested in early April in connection with a bribery case pertaining to the megaproject.

Susi said reclamation would only be allowed for the construction of public facilities, such as a seaport or power plant.

“The Jakarta reclamation project is for property, which is not really needed,” Susi said.

“Jakarta may dream of emulating Dubai, which built artificial islets for exclusive property through reclamation. But Jakarta has been facing serious problems ,such as recurring floods and a clean water shortage, which may worsen if the reclamation goes ahead,” Susi added, to the applause of nearly 200 Indonesian nationals who packed the embassy’s Nusantara room.

Susi said reclamation could threaten not only the marine environment of the city but also state facilities situated near Jakarta Bay, including the Muara Karang power plant. The plant is the energy backbone of Greater Jakarta.

“To exacerbate the matter, the reclamation issue has been linked to politics. Suspension of the project was deemed politically motivated as it was decided ahead of the Jakarta gubernatorial election, but we would have suspended anyways,” Susi said.

She, however, said her authority was limited and that permanent termination of the project was the authority of the Environment and Forestry Ministry.

Separately, expert Muslim Muin of the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) said the city administration and developers could not compare the reclamation project in Jakarta Bay to those in other cities such as Dubai.

“Dubai does not have 13 rivers downstreaming to its sea, so it will not be threatened by flooding,” Muslim, who earned his doctorate degree in ocean engineering from the University of Rhode Island, said.

He argued the islets would create canals effectively extending the flow of rivers into the sea. He said it would increase dredging sedimentation along the coast and if it was not dredged, the surrounding area would be prone to flooding.

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) is questioning the legal basis used by the Jakarta administration in collecting contributions from the reclamation developers.

Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama said on Tuesday that his administration decided the contributions based on an agreement with the reclamation developers in 2014, in which they decided on the additional contribution.

The agreement, he argued, was carried out based on his discretion rights as stipulated in Law No. 30/2014 on administrations.