Court Rules in Favor of Residents Fighting Islet K Reclamation

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The panel of judges on Jakarta Administrative Court (PTUN) has ruled in favor of Muara Angke residents fighting the reclamation of islet K on the Jakarta Bay. The judges have ordered the defendant to repeal Jakarta gubernatorial decree No. 2485/2015 on the permit for reclamation work of islet K awarded to property company PT Pembangunan Jaya Ancol.

The Indonesian Traditional Fishermen's Association (KNTI) official Marthin Hadiwinata has lauded the ruling. He is confident that the court would make similar decisions on islets F and I.

Marthin explained that even though Jakarta gubernatorial decree No. 2485/2015 has been overturned, the decision has yet attained permanent legal force because defendants may still file an appeal within 14 days after the ruling was issued. “The developer is not allowed to operate until [the decision] attains permanent legal force,” Marthin said.

According to Marthin, residents filed the lawsuit over several issues, namely that residents were not involved in the preparation of environmental impact analysis (amdal) from the outset, the lack of location permit for reclamation project, the lack of technical recommendation from the Marine and Fishery Ministry, the absence of location from which reclamation material would be sourced and the lack of announcement on environmental permit.

“[The demands] has been confirmed. The government may not issue reclamation permit because there were too many violations,” Marthin said.

LANI DIANA | SSN