"From what we have seen, some of the 17 small islands in the bay are no longer in the form of islands but have been connected to the mainland," Maritime and Fisheries Minister Susi Pujiastuti said.Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Maritime and Fisheries Minister Susi Pujiastuti has opined that the Jakarta Bay reclamation project was not to form new islands but to expand North Jakartas coastal area, instead.
"From what we have seen, some of the 17 small islands in the bay are no longer in the form of islands but have been connected to the mainland," Susi remarked here on Wednesday.
Further, the minister affirmed that reclamation was not being carried out to create a new island but to expand the coastal area in North Jakarta.
According to Susi, the C and D islands have been fused into a single landmass.
Earlier in the day, Susi and Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs Rizal Ramli, Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya, and Jakarta Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, better known as Ahok, reviewed the Jakarta bay reclamation site.
They visited the site in the bay of Jakarta to gain firsthand information on the reclamation project that had been halted temporarily.
"We have come to see the real condition here and in the other reclamation sites," Ramli remarked, adding that despite the risk, reclamation work was common across the world.
The government had earlier decided to temporarily suspend the reclamation project in the Bay of Jakarta, which covered 17 islands, until all the requirements, laws, and regulations were met by the developer.
On April 18, Ramli announced the governments decision to impose a moratorium on the Jakarta Bay reclamation project until the pros and cons of the multi-billion reclamation deal were evaluated.
"We request to suspend the construction work until all requirements and legal regulations are fully met," Ramli, who was accompanied by Nurbaya and Ahok, informed the press at the time.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
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