The latest twist in the legal battle to stop the development of man-made islets in the Jakarta Bay sees the Supreme Court siding with PT Taman Harapan Indah, a subsidiary of publicly-listed developer PT Intiland Development.

PT Taman Harapan Indah is the developer of islet H, one of 13 islets whose principle permits Governor Anies Baswedan revoked in a 2018 gubernatorial decree.

The latest ruling on Aug. 19 voids a previous Supreme Court decision that favored Anies, due to contractual circumstances that the administration failed to account for.

According to a resumé of ruling No. 84 PK/TUN/2021, which The Jakarta Post obtained from the court, Supreme Court justices ordered the annulment of the 2018 decree as it applies to islet H, but refused the developer’s request to have its reclamation permit extended.

The complete verdict has yet to be officially published.

Responding to the ruling on the case review, Jakarta’s legal bureau chief Yayan Yuhanah said the administration was still waiting to study the full verdict from the Supreme Court. “No comment from us until we have received the full verdict,” Yayan told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

Deputy Governor Ahmad Riza Patria said last week that Anies had not taken an official stance on the matter.

The governor, who won the 2017 gubernatorial election by campaigning against coastal reclamation, revoked the permits of 13 out of 17 islets, whose developers include private sector companies as well as state-owned firms.

The revocation order was not extended to four islets – C, D, G and N – because they had been built by the time Anies took office. Soon after, a number of developers started filing lawsuits in hopes of overturning the decision.

Read also: Jakarta loses, wins in legal battles over land reclamation projects

Exceptions

The lawsuit on islet H is not the only legal challenge that the Jakarta administration faces.

In January last year, the Jakarta State Administrative Court (PTUN) ruled in favor of islet F developer PT Agung Dinamika Perkasa, which also sought to overturn the revocation of its reclamation permit.

In August last year, the Supreme Court ruled against a cassation filed by islet M developer PT Manggala Krida Yudha, upholding the developer’s permit revocation in a win for the city.

In March this year, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Jakarta administration in a case review against islet I developer PT Jaladri Kartika Pakci, also upholding the islet’s permit revocation.

Meanwhile, the city was ordered to extend the permit of islet G developer PT Muara Wisesa Samudra, after the court ruled against the administration’s case review petition in December 2020.

Coastal reclamation in Jakarta’s north has been a subject of endless debate. Across city administrations, officials insist the practice is necessary for the expansion of the region, presumably done in the public’s interest.

Meanwhile, developers have sought legal measures to ensure they can continue doing business, even though permits for reclamation are issued by the administration.

Anies himself made an exception for the government-led development of the Ancol beach resort, which sought to reclaim 155 hectares of new land from the Jakarta Bay. The governor claimed last year that the Ancol project was different from the 17 islets whose permits he revoked, claiming that the former was done in the public’s interest.

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo also stoked criticism last May when he signed a new regulation that consolidated the development of the reclaimed islets as part of a spatial plan for the Jabodetabekpunjur (Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, Bekasi, Puncak and Cianjur) region.

Read also: Jokowi’s approval of Jakarta islet development stokes criticism

Planning out

In spite of this, civil society groups, environmentalists and researchers claim the effects that such projects have for Jakarta’s residents are rarely positive, and that they are increasingly detrimental to the local natural ecosystem.

And with the central government intent on relocating the capital to Kalimantan, even fewer state incentives would be on offer for any reclamation projects in the Jakarta Bay.

Observers say the recent setback will not necessarily curb Anies’ intent to stop reclamation efforts, although it could pave the way for the reclaimed islets to be further recognized in the city’s spatial planning, unless the administration takes a stronger stance against them.

Trisakti University urban expert Nirwono Joga said Anies would likely keep to his campaign promise to keep his position as governor secure, or even if he considers running for president in the future.

“Allowing the reclamation to go on would incite public protests [from people already averse to the projects],” Nirwono told the Post on Wednesday.

He noted, however, that the reclamation project was not mentioned in the city’s 2021-2022 priority programs, as laid out in Gubernatorial Instruction No. 49/2021.

Separately, Jakarta Forum for the Environment (Walhi) director Tubagus Soleh Ahmadi warned that the reclaimed islets could be whitewashed unless Jakarta’s updated spatial plan documents no longer recognize the existence of the islets whose permits were revoked by Anies.

Unless the city fully disavows the islets in its documents, they could be shielded by the 2020 presidential regulation. Outlines of islet H have shown up on a map of Jabodetabekpunjur, despite no mention of it in the regulation.

“We urge the Jakarta administration to erase these reclaimed islets from its spatial planning,” Tubagus said.

The Jakarta City Council is currently deliberating an update to the city’s detailed spatial and zoning plan (RDTR-PZ), even as the current spatial plan stipulated in Jakarta Bylaw No. 1/2012 is in place until 2030.

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