Luhut Becomes Chair Of The Steering Committee To Save 15 Priority Lakes, Including Lake Toba

Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan (Irfan Meidianto/VOI)

JAKARTA - The Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment has been appointed by President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) to be the Chairman of the Steering Committee to save priority lakes in the country.

This is stated in Presidential Regulation (Perpres) Number 60 of 2021 concerning Priority Lake Rescue which was signed by President Jokowi on 22 June.

There are 15 lakes that Jokowi prioritizes to save, namely Lake Toba in North Sumatra Province, Lake Singkarak in West Sumatra Province, Maninjau Lake in West Sumatra Province, Kerinci Lake in Jambi Province, and Lake Rawa Danau in Banten Province.

Next is Lake Rawa Pening in Central Java Province, Lake Batur in Bali Province, Lake Tondano in North Sulawesi Province, Mahakam Kaskade Lake (Melintang, Semayang, Jempang) in East Kalimantan Province, and Lake Sentarum in West Kalimantan Province.

Furthermore, Lake Limboto in Gorontalo Province, Lake Poso in Central Sulawesi Province, Tempe Lake in South Sulawesi Province, Matano Lake in South Sulawesi Province, and Lake Sentani in Papua Province.

"Saving the National Priority Lake is an effort to control damage, maintain, restore, and restore the condition and function of lake water bodies, water catchment areas, and lake borders so that they are beneficial for the welfare of the community in a sustainable manner," the Presidential Decree was quoted as saying.

The rescue is carried out by preventing and overcoming the damage to the lake ecosystem as a national priority, restoring the function and maintaining the ecosystem, and utilizing the lake by taking into account its condition and function in a sustainable manner.

Furthermore, this Presidential Regulation regulates a national priority lake rescue team consisting of a steering committee, a national priority lake rescue team at the central level, and a regional national priority lake rescue team. They are assigned to coordinate, synergize, and harmonize.

The complete composition of the Steering Committee of the Priority Lake Rescue Team in accordance with Article 9 is as follows:

1. Chairman concurrently member: Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment
2. Deputy chairman concurrently member: Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs
3. Daily chairman concurrently member: Minister of Public Works and People's Housing
4. Daily Deputy chairman I concurrently member: Minister of Environment and Forestry
5. Daily Deputy chairman II concurrently member: Minister National Development Planning/Head of National Development Planning Agency

Member:

• Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture;
• Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs;
• Minister of Home Affairs;
• Minister of Agrarian and Spatial Planning/Head of National Land Agency;
• Minister of Agriculture; 
• Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy/ Head of Tourism and Creative Economy Agency;
• Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries;
• Minister of Villages, Development of Disadvantaged Regions, and Transmigration;
• Minister of State-Owned Enterprises;
• Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources;
• Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology;
• Head of the National Research and Innovation Agency;
• Commander of the Indonesian National Armed Forces;
• Head of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences;
• Head of Geospatial Information Agency