"Areas around the House of Representative are sports and culture centers. There should be no malls," Emil said during a national discussion on the development of the capital city in the national perspective.

He criticized the fact that the city had grown into clusters of malls.

"The city should predetermine the function of the capital city," the former environment minister said. "Malls should be located in the city's outskirts."

The plan to transform the Taman Ria Senayan complex into a shopping mall by developer PT Ariobimo Laguna Perkasa working with the Lippo group shocked many parties. Senayan is now home to Plaza Senayan, Senayan City, FX Plaza and Ratu Plaza shopping malls.

Jakarta Building Supervisory Agency head Hari Sasongko said that according to the plan, 10 percent of the 11.2 hectares Taman Ria Senayan area would be developed into seven buildings.

Four for shops, one movie theater and two for public and social facilities, he said.

Hari admitted his agency had issued a preliminary permit to lay the building's foundations to gauge the structural strength of the land, but he added that all activity was currently on hold because the developer had not obtained an environmental impact assessment (Amdal) from the Jakarta Environmental Agency (BPLHD).

BPLHD head Peni Susanti confirmed Friday that her office had not issued an assessment.

The assessment is required to determine whether business activities are environmentally feasible in a particular area. The documents are required for the issuance of business permits.

The executive director of the Jakarta branch of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi), Ubaidillah, lamented that "environmental impact assessments have become procedural requirements and are usually evaluated as a formality, not based on real conditions".

He said assessments were conducted by hired consultants and brought to a commission at the BPLHD.

"Unfortunately the commission rarely verifies the reports. It usually evaluates it on theoretical aspects only," Ubaidillah said.

The director of the Jakarta branch of the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (LBH), Nurkholis Hidayat, said that according to Jakarta's 1985-2005 spatial planning, Senayan was supposed to be green spaces, not a commercial zone.

"Unfortunately all the obvious violations in the area were justified by the 1999 Spatial Planning Bylaw issued by then governor Sutiyoso," he said.

Governor Fauzi Bowo said "I may have to adjust the area function from commercial to green. According to the current spatial plan, the area is clearly commercial."

Converting the area into a green zone, he said, was better than building a mall.

Currently, green areas in Jakarta account for only 9.6 percent of the total area of 655 square kilometers. The city plans to increase this to 13.9 percent this year.

Popular

Batam MUI urges govt to make detailed SOP for treating Gazans on Galang Island

Cockfighting livestreams thrive in Philippines despite ban and murders

Farmer-trader trains to strengthen rural supply chains