T

he Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH Jakarta) has asked the city administration to become a plaintiff in its legal mission to revoke all the right-to-build permits (HGB) that had been issued for the controversial man-made Islet D in Jakarta Bay.

The Save Jakarta Bay Coalition (KSTJ), of which LBH Jakarta is a member, issued the request earlier on Thursday, calling on Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan and Deputy Governor Sandiaga Uno to fulfill the promise they made in their election campaign.

LBH Jakarta lawyer Nelson Nikodemus Simamora told The Jakarta Post that it was made following the National Land Agency’s (BPN) refusal to cancel the permits when requested by the governor.

“They [BPN] told us to file a lawsuit instead, which we can’t do because of the 90-day time limit from after the decree was issued. The only way [forward] is intervene as a plaintiff in the ongoing case,” Nelson said on Saturday.

The reclamation plans of Jakarta Bay have for the past few years been bogged by controversy, including claims of damaging environmental and economic impacts on surrounding areas, including fishermen, and legal issues on bylaws.

The city administration sent on Dec. 29 a letter to BPN head and Agrarian and Spatial Minister Sofyan Djalil calling for the cancellation of all building permits granted to third parties developing Islets C, D and G,
citing a negative outcome due to procedural errors in an evaluation.

In his response, Sofyan said he was unable to revoke the permits because they had been legally issued based on the country’s Agrarian Law, adding that complying with the request would lead to legal uncertainty.

The permits were issued by the BPN last August under then governor Djarot Saiful Hidayat.

Their issuance was further hastened following the urgings of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo.

On Nov. 21, 15 North Jakarta fishermen and the KTSJ filed a lawsuit at the Jakarta State Administrative Court (PTUN Jakarta) against North Jakarta Agrarian Agency head Kasten Situmorang, who had granted the developer of Islet G a right-to-build permit.

Islets C and D are being developed by PT Kapuk Naga Indah, a subsidiary of property giant Agung Sedayu Group, while Islet G is being developed by PT Muara Wisesa Samudra.

Jakarta Legal Bureau head Yayan Yuhana declined to comment on LBH Jakarta’s and KSTJ’s request to revoke the permits.

The City Council halted in 2016 deliberations on two bylaws related to the matter after councillor Mohamad Sanusi and former president director of Agung Podomoro Land, Ariesman Widjaja, were implicated in an alleged bribery case.

The deliberations continued following the lifting of a moratorium on reclamation efforts in October.

The bylaws in question were on the Jakarta North Coast Strategic Area Spatial Planning and the Zoning Plan on Coastal Areas and Small Islands.

Further controversy struck the islets when PT Kapuk Naga Indah reported a property buyer to the police for defamation after a dispute over the developer’s permit in December.

The customer, Lucia, was detained earlier this month after a recording of her on a tirade against the developer was uploaded onto the internet.

She has maintained her innocence, claiming that PT Kapuk Naga Indah had criminalized her for questioning the status of its building permit. (jlm)