Any new idea,
whether it is an innovation or new development, always raises pros and cons. Jakarta Bay Reclamation (JBR)
Project is no exception. A lot of people – be they environment experts,
lawyers, politicians and observers – all are looking on the projects whether
they are executed conforming to the regulations or whether there are some
frauds involved in them. Some are trying hard to be involved in the projects in
the hope of at least getting a part of the huge funds spent in the projects and
some are sincere on their criticism.
The project began under Presidential Decree No. 17 of 1994 stipulating that
Jakarta North Coast Region was categorized as the mainstay of Jakarta urban
development region. Presidential Decree No.
52/1995 followed suit stipulated to organize the Jakarta North Coast region development through the
sea reclamation integrated with existing coastal plains.
In January 2012 the Governor Regional Regulation No 8/1995
on the Implementation of North Jakarta Reclamation Area was changed under the setting
of the Spatial Plan to year 2030. In September of the same year, one month
before the end of his term, four principal permits were issued under the Governor
Regulation No 121/2012 by Fauzi Bowo on the reclamation of F, G, I and K islands.
Those permits were extended by the then Acting Governor Basuki Tjahaya Purnama (Ahok) in June 2014.
From the end of 2014 to
the end of 2015 Governor Ahok issued the reclamation execution permit of G, F, I and K. Today, a total of 17 man-made islands inside Jakarta Bay
are in process to undergo their construction or under the process of getting
the permit. Those islands were named alphabetically namely A being the
westernmost island through Q island in the easternmost of Jakarta Bay.
On 27 April 2016, in a closed meeting discussing the
Jakarta Bay reclamation, President Jokowi ensured that the whole Jakarta
reclamation project should be continued. This reclamation project will be
integrated with the National Capital Integrated Costal Development (NCICD).
He reminded that the land subsidence in Jakarta has been very
worrying. It is estimated that if there is no action to cope with the problem, the
entire North Jakarta will be submerged and below the sea level in 2030. In
fact, as the capital city, Jakarta must have the resilience and resources to
support a sustainable environment. Jokowi said that the construction of coastal
Capital (NCICD) which has long been initiated would be a solution. Do not
narrow the problem by focusing only to the Jakarta reclamation project alone.
Following the uproar over the issue of bribery and the
arrest M.Sanusi, Chairman of the Jakarta City Council by KPK as well as the
growing protest some communities, at the meeting of the Reclamation Joint
Committee of inter-ministerial and DKI Government, Rizal Ramli, the
Coordinating Minister for Maritime and Resources decided to stop the G island reclamation
project on the grounds that the island was developed over the Pertamina gas
pipeline and over the PLN underground cable lines.
But according to Tutty Kusumawati, Head of Bappeda DKI
Jakarta, the cancellation of the G island reclamation was unilaterally decided by
the Minister Rizal Ramli. Tutty said that the Joint Committee never concluded
that there were gross violations on the G island development and no
cancellation recommendations towards the reclamation. However, Rizal Ramli had another
opinion which was beyond the Committee recommendations. According to her, the
term gross violations were expressed by Rizal himself.
Mahfud M.D, ex-Minister of Law and Human Rights, was
in the opinion that as Coordinating Minister of Maritime and Marine Resources, Rizal
Ramli had no rights or authority to decide the fate of a reclamation project in
Jakarta Bay not mention deciding the cancellation of the reclamation. Any
cancellation decision is fully at the hand of the President. What Rizal Ramli did
had no connection with the Governor of Jakarta. Naturally Ahok as a governor was
in the right position to raise the matter directly to the president.
We all have interests that all parties concerned have proportional opinion. There are some countries that have successful development of their sea reclamation such as Singapore, our neighboring country and Dubai in the Middle East. Apart of the criminal problems associated with frauds, and violations regulation which
might be done by developers, environmental and the fate of fishermen issues, we must see the reclamation project in Jakarta Bay implemented as an integral
part of coastal development capital (NCICD) as a project that can provide a
positive effect in a long term to Great Jakarta as a whole as referred to in Presidential Decree No. 17 of 1994
and No. 5.
