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Reclamation to go ahead, but with govt 'in full control'
The central government has decided to press ahead with a scandal-stricken reclamation project in Jakarta Bay, with the central and city governments promising to take full and firm control..
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Reclamation projects in Jakarta Bay on Thursday. The megaproject is to press ahead, but with the central and city governments taking full control. (Antara/Agus Suparto)
T
he central government has decided to press ahead with a scandal-stricken reclamation project in Jakarta Bay, with the central and city governments promising to take full and firm control.
The decision was made during a limited Cabinet meeting chaired by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo at the State Palace in Jakarta on Wednesday.
Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama, who attended the meeting, said the private sector would still be involved. “But we don’t want to be directed by investors in the process of reclamation. As such, we will have to draft new regulations,” Ahok said at City Hall on Wednesday.
Wednesday’s meeting was a follow-up to a previous meeting between Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Rizal Ramli, Ahok and Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar on April 18. The three agreed to halt the reclamation process, pending the issuance of new regulations.
The megaproject has been in the spotlight since the arrest of a city councilor, Mohamad Sanusi, by Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) investigators for allegedly accepting bribes from property giant PT Agung Podomoro Land (APL) to influence the drafting of bylaws on zoning in the project area.
In the wake of the arrest, the Jakarta City Council ceased deliberations of the draft bylaws.
Ahok expressed the hope that the moratorium on reclamation would end within six months after the central government “harmonized” the related regulations.
According to the governor, the President has said that he will issue new regulations, as the existing regulations do not regulate reclaimed islets.
The President has also ordered the Environment and Forestry Ministry to examine reclamation projects carried out by private developers to ensure they are in line with environmental impact analysis (Amdal) documentation, he added.
“If the developer refuses to improve the construction according to the committee’s direction, the administration will impose criminal charges on them,” he stressed.
City Council Deputy Speaker Triwisaksana welcomed the central government’s decision to return the reclamation project to the framework of the National Capital Integrated Coastal Development (NCICD), noting that it should be firmly under the control of the central and city governments.
With the decision, the government is prioritizing the interests of the public, including fishermen whose livelihoods depend on the bay, Triwisaksana said, adding that city councilors had seriously debated the issue when deliberating the two draft reclamation bylaws.
“We realized that the project had ignored the interests of fishermen because it was carried out solely by private companies,” he said as reported by kompas.com. (bbn)
