History Of Pantai Indah Kapuk: Exclusive Areas Considered To Damage Jakarta's Coastal Ecosystem

JAKARTA - The image of Jakarta as the most populous city is not just an empty message. The availability of land for housing development is increasingly limited in the 1990s. However, this condition is not an obstacle for developers to run their property business. Mandara Permai, for example.

The company that was once led by famous Ciputra entrepreneurs did not lose its mind. He tried to turn the swampy area north of Jakarta into one of the big settlements in Jakarta: Pantai Indah Kapuk (PIK). The problem also follows.

Andil DKI Jakarta government changed swamps on the north coast of Jakarta with blessings. The Rawa was then reclamationd into the Ancol area from the 1970s. Jakarta has a new entertainment venue. The Ancol project also received praise from here and there.

Many businessmen are attracted. The desire to build quality housing in the northern coastal area emerged. Ciputra entrepreneurs began to mobilize their companies, Metropolitan Development controlled the shares of developer PT Mandara Permai.

Mandara Permai then planned to build a settlement on the north coast of Jakarta. Ciputra also named his project PIK from 1984. The project is predicted to be able to answer the problem of limited land in Jakarta. Ciputra is confident that the project was successful.

This confidence was obtained because he had worked at BUMD Jakarta, Pembangunan Jaya. He became an important actor about the reclamation of Ancol projects. The project was considered large in its era. Mandara Permai tries to present a new area on land outside of 1,100 hectares.

It is planned that the area will be inhabited by 12 thousand luxury houses. There are also dozens of hotels to luxury apartments. Ciputra and Mandara Permai are confident because they have received the blessing of the central and regional governments. The project is also scheduled to take place from 1992. The enthusiasts began to come one by one.

The story begins in 1984, when the Department of Forestry gave permission to PT Mandara Permai to build a PIK project over the Muara Angke forest. The company then delves the swamp on the beach and along the Sedyatmo toll road. This is the road to Soekarno-Hatta Airport.

The plan is for the 1,100 hectare land to be built 10 five-star hotels, 10 offices, 10 condominiums, and residential complexes with 12 thousand housing units. This complex will be equipped with a marine park, a marine (yacht shipyard), and a golf course (18 holes). The project worth IDR 3 trillion is classy, both budget and design, "wrote in a Tempo magazine report entitled Controversy Reclamation (2016).

The PIK reclamation project did not run smoothly. The project received opposition from here and there. Many consider the presence of PIK only to bring many harm rather than benefits to the coastal ecosystem in Jakarta.

Opinion has even emerged from the body of the central government. Minister of State Supervision of Development and Environment, Emil Salim spoke up. He wrote to the DKI Jakarta Government regarding the presence of Mandara Permai at PIK.

Emil Salim considers the permit issued by the DKI Jakarta government to be flawed. The PIK project is considered an AMDAL defect. Emil saw that the threat of major environmental damage was present at PIK. Moreover, Mandara Permai is considered unable to present the requirements for artificial forests and lakes.

Criticism from environmental experts also emerged. The presence of PIK is considered to have an impact on the possible sinking of the Sedyatmo Toll Road connecting Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta Airport. The reclamation also threatens the Angke Kapuk Nature Reserve.

Ciputra and Mandara Permai also tried to dismiss all assumptions. They are confident that the presence of PIK will not damage the coastal ecosystem. PIK's reclamation continues. Even though it was disrupted due to the 1997-1998 monetary crisis.

The crisis caused Ciputra to sell his majority stake under the banner of the Metropolitan Development. Finally, the project was continued by the new majority shareholder. At its peak, the PIK area began commercializing in 2003.

The reclamation overlap may have occurred because there was no clear limit between the nature reserve and the PIK project. In fact, previously, the owner of PIK, namely PT Mandara Permai, had agreed to build a barrier between the nature reserve and the location of the project as wide as 100 meters. Well, let alone the forest or the artificial lake, that limit alone is not built either.

What is busy with is the reclamation of sand, so that dozens of sand trucks can not stop running over the buffer zone of the nature reserve. According to the Bapedal (Environmental Impact Control Agency) source, the construction of settlements in the buffer zone of the nature reserve has violated the Spatial Planning Act. That is, if the construction of PIK will continue, the DPR must be consulted for changes to the designation of buffer areas, concluded Bambang Aji and Sri Wahyuni in their writings in Tempo magazine entitled Tracing Angke and Reclamation PIK (1994).