Basuki Tjahaja Purnama: I'd be happy to stop the reclamation  

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Jakarta City Hall welcomed 10 visitors, who met with Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama last week. They were contractors and officials of companies holding licenses to reclaim offshore lands, to explain charges of sand theft from the Thousand Islands. The residents of Pari island, for example, had reported that the Luxembourg-flagged vessel Cristobal Colon had suctioned so much sand off their island shores that the newly planted corals they had planted 20 meters deep had been affected.

The Cristobal Colon is leased to the Energy Marine Indonesia company, which in turn was contracted by Kapuk Naga Indah, a subsidiary of the Agung Sedau Group of companies. Energy Marine Indonesia was reclaiming parts of Jakarta Bay to build five islands as wide as 1,331 hectares. Among his 10 guests were representatives of these companies. "We were asked to explain about the illegal sand dredging," said the director of Moga Abadi Cemerlang, the company supplying sand to Kapuk Naga.

Little is known of what was discussed at that hour-long meeting at City Hall. Governor Basuki himself seemed reluctant to reveal anything in detail. "If they are proven to have stolen sand, let's take legal action against them," he told Tempo reporters Erwan Hermawan, Hussein Abri Yusuf Muda and Yolanda Ryan Armidya. Excerpts of the interview:

Have you received reports of illegal sand dredging off the Thousand Islands?

The previous regent had received but he was unable to understand what it meant, so I replaced him with Tri Djoko. He reported that a vessel was dredging sand. I don't know yet the latest development.

Was the activity investigated?

Tracking it down is easy. I'm a former miner, and each vessel has a GPS (global positioning system), which should be traced easily. You only need to ask the ship's authorities and ask for their sailing manifest. In this way the people's complaints about missing sand can be proven from their coordinates.

What if they are proven to have dredged sand illegally?

Penalize them. In this case it's under the jurisdiction of the Forestry and Environment Ministry. If they destroy the environment, they can be fined billions of rupiah.

Who should be penalized?

The company supplying the vessels. But I cannot penalize them, that falls under the authority of the environment minister.

Those vessels are leased by reclamation companies. Can their reclamation licenses be withdrawn?

Not likely. It's not his fault, and he can sue us at the administrative court. I wouldn't want to revoke [the license], if we lose we could end up paying Rp400 trillion.

What if someone brings a lawsuit?

If someone wants to cancel the reclamation, I would be happy. If I annulled it, someone could hit me for it. Based on Presidential Decision 1995, the Jakarta administration only gets 5 percent of the total island area, which can be sold. I want it to be 70 percent. The reclamation regulations are not fair.

Read the full interview in this week’s edition of Tempo English Magazine