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Reclamation is in-line with national interest, Luhut claims
Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan has reiterated that continuing the reclamation project of Islet G in Jakarta Bay is in-line with national interests, particularly in preserving Jakarta as the nation's strategic city and improve local fishermen welfare.
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Fishermen of Muara Angke hold a mock Padlock in a theatrical Rally on man-made islet, known as Islet G, in Jakarta Bay on April 17. The Fishermen symbolically sealed the islet to celebrate the decision of the government and the House of Representatives, which halted the Jakarta Bay reclamation project temporarily. JP/Seto Wardhana (The Jakarta Post/Seto Wardhana)
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oordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan has reiterated that continuing the reclamation project of Islet G in Jakarta Bay is in-line with the national interest, particularly in preserving Jakarta as the nation's strategic city and improve local fishermen welfare.
Apart from preventing land subsidence and easing annual flooding, the reclamation is important to increasing the supply of raw water to be processed as drinking water, according to Luhut.
"When the giant seawall construction has finished, research shows that seawater higher than 2 meters can be processed into drinking water. It can be pumped at a rate of 45 m cubic per second or about 40 percent of our water needs," Luhut said on Wednesday.
Speaking about the fate of fishermen, he went on, the government was improving their welfare by providing them with housing facilities, health services and education assistance for their children, as well as developing floating storage that would serve as a fish processing site.
On June 31, the Jakarta Administrative Court ordered the developer of Islet G, Muara Wisesa Samudra, subsidiary of property giant Agung Podomoro Land, to halt its reclamation activities, but Luhut said the decision was not binding as the Jakarta Administration appealed to a higher court.
He argued that state-owned electricity firm Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN), the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT), and the Environment and Forestry Ministry had conducted a thorough study on the project that supported its continuation. (bbn)
