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Maritime affairs ministry shuts down unlicensed reclamation near Pari Island
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Mangrove trees planted as part of a community project to curb coastal erosion stretch across an isthmus of Pari Island in Jakarta’s Thousand Islands regency, in this aerial photo taken on Feb. 23, 2023. (AFP/Bay Ismoyo)
T
he Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry has ordered a shutdown of unauthorized dredging and land reclamation to build a channel and jetties on an islet near Pari Island north of the Jakarta coast that islanders fear will damage mangroves and marine ecosystems in the area.
Officials from the marine and fishery resources management directorate general inspected the uninhabited islet, known as Biawak to Pari islanders, on Wednesday, about a week after the ministry found signs of illegal reclamation activities by a company, only identified by their initials CPS.
“But to ensure that all [unlicensed] activities remain halted, the ministry installed a banner with the stop-work order [on Tuesday] in an event that was witnessed by representatives of CPS,” Doni Ismanto Darwin, special staffer to the maritime affairs minister, said in a statement on Wednesday.
The ministry will keep tabs on the company and will question it on Thursday.
On Jan. 17, the company dredged the bottom of shallow waters near the Biawak islet where a resort has been under construction since November of last year, Tempo reported. This prompted fresh opposition from Pari island residents, who have long been concerned about the impacts of the development of the resort on mangroves and coral in the area.
A few days later, on Jan. 20, the ministry visited the Biawak islet and found an 18-square-meter artificial waterway, Dodi said.
The company has a marine spatial utilization permit (KKPRL) to build a floating resort and a pier on the islet but is not allowed to dredge or perform reclamation activities to build the waterway. The permit was issued by the maritime affairs ministry in July of last year.
