Anies Baswedan Pernah Tegaskan Jakarta Sebagai Kota Paling Badan Soal Lingkungan Hidup

A woman took a picture of buildings that looked blurry because they were covered in pollution in Jakarta on July 5, 2019. (ANTARA PHOTO/Wahyu Putro A/hp)

JAKARTA - Eight years ago, December 24, 2016, the Candidate for Governor (Cagub) of DKI Jakarta, Anies Baswedan emphasized that Jakarta is the worst city about the environment. Anies considered the arrangement of human affairs and the atmosphere.

He took the matter of reclamation of Jakarta Bay. Previously, the Jakarta Bay reclamation project was the mainstay of the DKI Jakarta government against two disasters: tidal floods and overflowing 13 rivers. Problems arise. Environmental problems caused by hoarding.

Efforts to increase the land area of Jakarta like Singapore have appeared in the New Order (Orba) era. The option was used to increase the area of land on the North Coast of Jakarta. This wish arose through Presidential Decree No. 52 of 1995 concerning the Reclamation of North Coast of Jakarta.

The project did not run smoothly. The collapse of the New Order during 1998 became the estuary. The discourse of the project reappeared to the surface in the era of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) through Presidential Regulation (Perpres) No. 122 of 2012 concerning the Reclamation of Pesisr Regions and Small Islands.

The purpose of reclamation, which previously only added land, was changed to accommodate 17 new islands named A to Q. The project continued until Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (Ahok) commanded Jakarta. Ahok felt that the reclamation project had many advantages.

He not only saw his economic potential. he also saw reclamation can overcome two problems at once: tidal floods and overflows from 13 rivers. Ahok may see that. However, not with the wider community.

Reclamation matters are considered to have many disadvantages rather than benefits. This view was also agreed by the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs, Rizal Ramli. He even issued a reclamation moratorium in April 2016. He considered reclamation only to bring many problems.

The marine ecosystem is damaged. Fishermen are getting more and more difficult to catch fish. He also called the case of overcoming flooding a mere empty message. Floods will not be overcome just from the reclamation project which clearly only relies on economic benefits.

"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 the Kompas.com page, July 19, 2016.

Rizal Ramli may be fired after rejecting the reclamation project. However, it was not only Rizal himself who refused reclamation. Cagub DKI Jakarta, Anies Baswedan also did the same thing. He emphasized that Jakarta was the worst city in terms of the environment on December 24, 2016.

He wants the project to be stopped. Anies did not see any more benefits, apart from the increasingly severe environmental damage. He wants everything to change when he is later elected in the 2017 DKI Jakarta gubernatorial election. He also tried to overcome the problem of flooding, traffic jams, and exhaust gas emissions.

"Jakarta is the worst in the environment. This is in the world in the lower ranking of the criteria for Europe, planets, profit. Jakarta is bad for its people and its boundaries. I will fix that if elected later. I have conveyed the problem of reclamation long ago that we will not continue. We never agreed," said Anies Baswedan, quoted on Detik.com page, December 24, 2016.