Regarding Pagar Laut, Walhi: If You Take Sides With Fishermen, Just Remove It

Sea fences were installed in the coastal area of Tangerang Regency, Banten, Thursday, January 9, 2025. (ANTARA PHOTO-Sulthony Hasanuddin)

JAKARTA - The Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) encourages the government to take firm action regarding sea fencing that occurs in the waters of Tangerang, Banten, and Bekasi Regencies, West Java.

"If it is on the side of the environment, to fishermen, just revoke it," said Deputy External National Executive Walhi Mukri Friatna in Jakarta, Friday, January 17, quoted by Antara.

In addition to revoking, he also hopes that the relevant ministries/agencies will identify the perpetrators who carried out the fencing

This decisive step needs to be taken, he explained, because of concerns that the construction of the fence aims to create new land or reclamation. This is based on the Tangerang Regency Regional Regulation Number 13 of 2011 concerning the Plan for the Spatial Planning of the Tangerang Regency Region for 2011-2031.

In the regulation, it was written that the land area was 95,961 hectares plus a coastal reclamation area of 9,000 hectares. The same plan is suspected to be a destination for fencing in the waters of Bekasi Regency, West Java.

Regarding the reclamation plan, he warned of a number of impacts not only on the surrounding environment but also on the economy. In particular, the people who are on the coast.

"If the impact is ecological, the first is death to coral reefs. Second, if coral reefs die, the diversity of coastal biodiversity will also be affected, the fish will also disappear," he said.

The loss of fish around the coast will ultimately have an impact on fishermen who have to look for fish further into the middle of the sea.

"They are double burdens. They work to get results, but to answer fuel needs, to answer the need for clean water, they are not fulfilled," he said.

Previously, the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (KKP) had sealed a 30.16 kilometer (km) long bamboo fence on the north coast of Tangerang Regency, Banten and in Bekasi Regency.

For the bamboo fence in Bekasi waters, the Director of Marine Resources Supervision of the Directorate General of Marine and Fishery Resources Supervision (Ditjen PSDKP) of the KKP Sumono Darwinto stated that the sea fencing was included in the reclamation activity category.