REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan witnessed the sealing of buildings located on the D and B island reclamation project in northern Jakarta, Thursday. Public Order Agency (Satpol PP) chief Yani Wahyu said as many as 500 Satpol PP personnels deployed.
About 200 went to C and D islets, while 300 personnels waited outside the islets or in North Jakarta border.
"I am visiting here for the first time," the governor remarked while observing the island where several houses and office buildings were already standing.
One of the banners used to seal the buildings contained text revealing that the location was closed, as it had violated Chapter 69, Article 1 of Law No. 26 of 2007 on Spatial Planning.
Earlier, Anies released 500 Satpol PP personnels at City Hall. He has ordered that the sealing must be done in accordance with the procedure and remain obedient to the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP).
The action was done to ensure order in Jakarta. Anies said all parties must follow the rules and provincial government is ready to take firm steps to those who violate the rules.
Also read: BPN refuses to repeal HGB of reclamation islets
The Jakarta Bay reclamation projects, located in northern Jakarta, have been controversial since the start. Local fishermen have expressed their objection to the mega projects, as their livelihoods have been significantly affected.
Jakarta Provincial Government officially seals C and D reclamation islets in Jakarta Bay, Thursday (June 7).
Several non-governmental organizations had also opposed the reclamation projects, as they harm the coastal environment.
One of the serious questions often posed was from where the sand, coral, and other solid materials needed for building the man-made islands in the Jakarta Bay were sourced from. Massive sand and coral mining could endanger or even make an island and several islets vanish.
Jakarta's bay reclamation also became subject to hot debate during the gubernatorial election campaign last year. During the campaign period, Anies and his Deputy Sandiaga Uno repeatedly vowed to stop that project. They said reclamation was environmentally unfriendly and would disrupt the livelihoods of fisherfolk and people around the project's area, and many more.
However, the move was opposed by central government. Vice President Jusuf Kalla said that the government would proceed with the reclamation of Jakarta Bay to build two islands, C and D, out of the total 14 islands planned to be constructed previously.
"The government did not say that it (the reclamation project) would be continued, but it has stated that the running project would be continued, and I think the Jakarta administration has agreed to this," Kalla stated here on Tuesday.
According to Kalla, the decision to continue the running project had been discussed between the central and Jakarta administrations by taking its efficiency into account.
"We had been discussing about the existing project, as it is impossible to demolish them. It would be more costly to demolish them than to continue with the construction," he added.
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