TheJakartaPost

Please Update your browser

Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.

Jakarta Post

Fishermen politicized to oppose reclamation project: Ahok

People take to the streets in Muara Angke, North Jakarta, on Wednesday to protest against a land reclamation project in Jakarta Bay

The Jakarta Post
Jakarta
Sat, December 5, 2015

Share This Article

Change Size

Fishermen politicized to oppose reclamation project: Ahok

P

span class="inline inline-center">People take to the streets in Muara Angke, North Jakarta, on Wednesday to protest against a land reclamation project in Jakarta Bay. (Warta Kota/Angga Bhagya Nugraha via tribunnews.com)

Jakarta Governor Basuki '€œAhok'€ Tjahaja Purnama has accused certain parties of politicizing fishermen to oppose a reclamation project in Jakarta Bay and has stressed that no Jakartan will be negatively affected by the project.

'€œThe fishermen just spoke up. What they didn'€™t understand was what they had said. They were [provoked] by politicians,'€ Ahok said in Jakarta on Friday as reported by tribunnews.com, in response to a recent demonstration by hundreds of people in North Jakarta to oppose the reclamation project.

The Jakarta administration, in cooperation with private companies, is set to construct 17 islands in Jakarta Bay for luxury residences and commercial facilities.

Fishermen and environmental activists have expressed their views that the reclamation would affect fishermen'€™s catches and would have a negative environmental impact on nearby areas, including the possible worsening of annual floods.

The reclamation project has been on the agenda of Jakarta governors since 1995, based on Bylaw No. 8/1995 on reclamation. Then-president Soeharto issued Presidential Decree No. 52/1995 on the reclamation of Jakarta'€™s northern coastal areas. But the reclamation could not be implemented because of strong opposition from environmental activists.

'€œIt is a story that began 20 years ago. There was also a study stating that Jakarta Bay was acutely contaminated, seriously degraded,'€ Ahok said, adding that an Environmental Impact Analysis (Amdal) document had been issued long ago.

According to the governor, nearly 51 percent of the results of the reclamation would be used for the public'€™s interests.

The People'€™s Coalition for Equal Fisheries (Kiara) and the Indonesian Traditional Fishermen'€™s Association (KNTI) have registered a petition at the Jakarta State Administrative Court (PTUN) against Ahok for issuing a gubernatorial decree giving developer PT Muara Wisesa Samudra a permit to build a man-made islet, known as Islet G, off Jakarta'€™s coast.

They said that the permit violated the rights of fishermen in Muara Angke and Muara Baru, who relied on catching fish in the North Jakarta coastal area. (bbn)

{

Your Opinion Matters

Share your experiences, suggestions, and any issues you've encountered on The Jakarta Post. We're here to listen.

Enter at least 30 characters
0 / 30

Thank You

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. We appreciate your feedback.