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Anies wins legal battle against Jakarta islet developer
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Cranes and heavy machinery reclaim an islet in Jakarta Bay in April 2016. (Antara/Wahyu Putro)
T
he Supreme Court has ruled in favor of the Jakarta administration in its appeal of a lower court’s decision to uphold developer PT Taman Harapan Indah's permit to reclaim and build on man-made Islet H in Jakarta bay.
The dispute was one of a few that centered on the city's revocation of developers’ permits to reclaim and build on 13 islets, including Islet H, through a gubernatorial decree issued by Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan in September 2018.
PT Taman Harapan Indah challenged the decree in the Jakarta Administrative Court (PTUN). In July of last year, the court ruled in favor of the company, a subsidiary of property developer PT Intiland Development.
The city administration subsequently filed an appeal with the Jakarta Administrative High Court (PTTUN). In December 2019, the court ordered Anies to revoke the gubernatorial decree but stopped short of ordering the governor to extend the company's permit to build Islet H.
Both PT Taman Harapan Indah and the Jakarta administration then filed appeals with the Supreme Court to challenge the verdict.
The Supreme Court’s ruling, posted on its official website mahkamahagung.go.id on Tuesday, said it "rejected the appeal" from PT Taman Harapan Indah and had ruled in favor of Anies.
The court overruled the PTUN and PTTUN and reestablished the gubernatorial decree that revoked the reclamation permits.
Jakarta Legal Bureau head Yayan Yuhanah said there were other legal avenues for PT Taman Harapan Indah to challenge the verdict.
Read also: Reclamation or not: City struggles to win lawsuits
“The plaintiff can file a case review [with the Supreme Court]," Yayan said, "However, I am not yet sure if they will do it."
Anies lauded the Supreme Court’s ruling and expressed his wish to win the other legal battles against reclamation efforts in Jakarta Bay.
“The ruling is in line with our regulation. The other legal proceedings [over other reclaimed islets] are still ongoing. Hopefully, we can win those cases too,” he told journalists on Tuesday.
The city's decision to revoke the permits of the developers in charge of the 13 reclaimed islets in 2018 followed an investigation by the Jakarta North Coast Reclamation Management Coordinating Body that found that the projects had failed to follow necessary procedures, including in the submission of design and Environmental Impact Analysis (Amdal) reports.
The other islets with revoked permits are islets A, B and E, developed by PT Kapuk Naga Indah; islets I, J and K, developed by city-owned PT Pembangunan Jaya Ancol; islet M, developed by PT Manggala Krida Yudha; islets O and F, developed by PT Jakarta Propertindo; islets P and Q, developed by KEK Marunda Jakarta; and islet I, developed by PT Jaladri Kartika Pakci.
Anies did not revoke the permits of the three developers overseeing the reclamation of islets C, D, G and N, arguing that the four islets had already been built on.
PT Manggala Krida Yuda challenged the city's decision in the PTUN, but the court rejected the lawsuit.
The PTUN also ruled in favor of PT Agung Dinamika Perkasa and PT Jaladri Kartika Pakci after they brought complaints forward. The Jakarta administration has filed appeals against the decisions, and the legal proceedings are currently ongoing. (ami)
