Government Considers to Lift Ban on Jakarta Land Reclamation Project
Luhut Pandjaitan, Indonesia's Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs, said the Indonesian government will soon end the moratorium on the giant land reclamation project in the bay north off the coast of Jakarta. In April 2016 this project - involving the construction of 17 artificial islands for property and commercial development projects - was halted by Indonesian President Joko Widodo.
Widodo halted all activities related to the development of the USD $40 billion land reclamation project because existing laws were not ready to deal with the project (this is "usual" in decentralized Indonesia when it involves big projects), while there also emerged a corruption case - involving one of the developers (Agung Podomoro Land) and a former legislator of Jakarta's provincial assembly (Muhammad Sanusi). Meanwhile, environmentalist claimed that local fishermen would loose their livelihoods due to the project as fish populations would be endangered.
Pandjaitan said in an interview that "there is now no reason to maintain the moratorium because all legal and technical matters have been settled." However, he added that there will be another meeting before a definitive decision is made.
This ambitious project was initiated by the local Jakarta city administration with the aim to relieve severe population density in the capital city of Jakarta. Moreover, the northern part of Jakarta is sinking rapidly and therefore big action is required. Outside this land reclamation area a giant (24-kilometer) sea wall will be constructed that aims to enhance flood prevention. This seawall is part of the government's National Capital Integrated Coastal Development (NCICD) plan, better known as the Great Garuda.
