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.
I’m not a crybaby, Ahok tells Rizal
Change Size
Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama delivers a speech at the Healthcare and Social Security Agency (BPJS Kesehatan) in Central Jakarta on June 29. (kompas.com/Kurnia Sari Aziza)
J
akarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama has defended his decision to consult President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo on the decision to halt one of the city’s land reclamation projects, saying such a bold move was necessary.
“Rizal deems the 1995 presidential decree [on Jakarta’s coastal reclamation] as no longer valid, as it contradicts other regulations. Hence, I need to ask the President to find out if the minister’s statement is right. It’s not that I’m a crybaby, but I need to ask the President about it,” Ahok said at City Hall on Thursday.
The governor has been involved in a war of words with Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Rizal Ramli over the latter’s surprise decision to terminate the reclamation project on Islet G. Ahok insists that the project is legal and in line with the 1995 decree, but Rizal claimed that decree was now void.
Ahok reportedly sent a letter to President Jokowi, his former running mate in the 2012 Jakarta election, to clarify Rizal's claim. Responding to Ahok’s move, Rizal said the governor should not turn to the President for every problem he’s dealing with.
“Don’t be such a crybaby. The decision to terminate the Jakarta reclamation project was made by ministers whose authorities are prescribed by the law,” he said.
The outspoken minister said Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti, Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya and Transportation Minister Ignasius Jonan endorsed his decision and therefore it was legally justified. (ary)
