From Emil Salim To Rizal Ramli: The Story Of An Official Rejecting The Jakarta Coastal Reclamation Project

JAKARTA - No one doubts Jakarta's density. A space to build a limited area. This condition makes developers rack their brains. They try the reclamation option of the north coast of Jakarta in order to add land and money. Ancol's reclamation is an example of success.

The desire to present the Pantai Indah Kapuk (PIK) 1 and 17 reclamation islands in Jakarta Bay has emerged. However, the project is considered dangerous. Reclamation can disrupt coastal ecosystems. Rejections appear everywhere. Those who have refused include: Emil Salim and Rizal Ramli.

The reclamation option to expand land is not new. The DKI Jakarta government once tried it in the Ancol project in the 1970s. The owner of the power tries to turn swamps on the north coast and then it is reclamation into an Ancol entertainment area.

An example of the success of development is a magnificent decoration of the memories of business actors in Jakarta. Those who had previously surrendered to the property business in Jakarta became even more lit up. This spirit was presented by PT Mandara Permai, which is controlled by a company owned by Ciputra entrepreneur, Metropolitan Development.

Mandara Permai also obtained permission to build an elite area on the north coast of Jakarta in 1984. PIK, his name. PIK development is also planned to take place in 1992. However, it did not run smoothly.

Deru protest appeared one after another. The development was labeled with great harm. Profits business. However, the whole of Jakarta is like a loss. The development is predicted to damage the north coastal ecosystem of Jakarta.

Criticism emerged from high-ranking New Order-era official Emil Salim. The Minister of State for Supervision of Development and Environment sent his objection letter to the DKI Jakarta Government in 1992.

The DKI Jakarta government considers it negligent in granting permits. Environmental impact analysis (Amdal) has never been taken into account. Emil assessed that Mandara Permai only cares about its business. Requirements for building lakes and artificial forests are not carried out.

This means that environmental problems have never been a priority. Emil's concerns were also proven. PIK development disrupts the coastal ecosystem.

What is very disturbed is the possibility of the sinking of the Sedyatmo toll road, which connects Jakarta with Soekarno-Hatta Airport. Now PIK has been in the spotlight again, because since the end of last year dozens of large trucks, non-stop, flocked to the edge of the reserve. They brought thousands of tons of sand, then spilled it onto the PIK settlement project, which is located west of the nature reserve.

Along with the hustle and bustle of the nature reserve, there are also activities that are not less noisy in PIK. Two ships that dredge the type ofction Dredger, belonging to the State-Owned Enterprises of the Department of Transportation, alternately supply sand there. According to several PIK employees, the sand was taken from Tanjungkat and Cituis, in the Thousand Islands. For that purpose, a 50 cm diameter pipe never stops to suck sand from the ship and then hoard it next to the reserve," said Bambang Aji and Sri Wahyuni in Tempo Magazine entitled Tracing Angke and Reclamation PIK (1994).

Reclamation Moratorium

Emil Salim did criticize him strongly. However, the PIK 1 project continued and was commercialized in 2004. This condition makes environmental problems that become criticism appear one after another the mangrove forest is reduced and the habitat of animals on the coast is lost.

Another problem surrounding the reclamation of the north coast of Jakarta is actually not just one. The New Order government also had the intention to reclamation other coastal land in Jakarta in 1995. This wish was confirmed by Presidential Decree (Kepres) No. 52 of 1995 concerning the Reclamation of North Coast Jakarta.

Recently, the reclamation plan has not been realized properly. The next government has not seen the importance of reclamation matters. However, the desire was increasingly burning during the era of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in 2012. SBY also gave a mandate to the Governor of DKI Jakarta at that time, Fauzi Bowo.

The reclamation design is slightly different. The project, which was originally additional land on the coast, also includes the construction of small islands in Jakarta Bay. The islands that want to be built reach 17 new islands with the names Island A to Q.

The spirit of development also occurred in the era of the Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (Ahok) government. The Governor of DKI Jakarta from the 2014-2017 era considered that the reclamation island project had many benefits for Jakarta. It can prevent flooding as well. However, the benefits were considered unreasonable by Rizal Ramli.

The Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs actually considers the plan for the Reclamation Island to be much disadvantaged. It's nonsense with flood prevention. Rizal found that the marine ecosystem was damaged. Fishermen are difficult to catch fish.

Rizal even dared to oppose his fellow ministers. Ahok, who in fact holds the reclamation command, was severely criticized by Rizal. Ahok considered him more like a developer employee than the Governor of DKI Jakarta.

Rizal also wants reclamation to stop doing it. This condition will make the whole of Jakarta really lose money. He even took the risk of carrying out a reclamation moratorium in April 2016. The decision received the support of the wider people. All kinds of island development activities stopped for a moment.

The problem with Rizal's moratorium did not last long. This is because Rizal actually stepped down from the seat of the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs on July 27, 2015. He was later replaced by another political figure, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan. This condition made the reclamation island project continue. Even though it was later stopped when Anies Baswedan became Governor of DKI Jakarta from 2017.

"I'm also confused about why he (Basuki) insisted. Ahok is the Governor of DKI or a developer employee? One minister alone is actually enough to stop. The Minister of Environment, for example. Well, these are three ministers and one coordinating minister. "

"Because it is dangerous, we decided to stop it entirely. That's also because it is categorized as a serious violation. If something dangerous happens, who will be blamed later? The central government too. We don't want that because it's very dangerous," Rizal said as quoted by Kompas.com website, July 19, 2016.