Disaster Risk Rises as Lakes Lost

The lakes in Jabodetabek (Jakarta, Bogor, Tangerang, Depok and Bekasi) are being lost, with many sold off to land developers. As a result, flooding may occur at any time.

KOMPAS/HENDRA A SETYAWAN

Tujuh Muara reservoir in Pamulang, South Tangerang, Banten, Monday (30/9/2019). The resorvoir is relatively well maintained and preserved. Some green areas in South Tangerang extensively shrink due to the conversion of functions into housing.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS – Data at the Ciliwung-Cisadane Flood Control Office (BBWSCC) of the Public Works and Housing Ministry shows that the office holds the rights to 208 lakes in Greater Jakarta. However, not all lakes are under state management for using to advance public welfare.

About 30 lakes are under individual and corporate management through land ownership certificates (SHM) or right-to-build (HGB) and right-to-cultivate (HGU) permits.

Lake management through the SHM or the HGB has resulted in the conversion of many lakes in Greater Jakarta so that they no longer function as water catchments or for preventing floods.

The Kompas investigation team found in September that individual and corporate lake management had gone on for years. The lakes under developer management through the SHM or the HGB include Kayu Antep and Rompang in South Tangerang, Banten. Furthermore, 15 hectares of the 18 hectares where Lake Gunung Putri is located in Bogor regency have fallen under corporate management through the purchase of 59 girik [customary land deeds] in 2007-2013.

KOMPAS/HENDRA A SETYAWAN

Rompong Reservoir in Cempaka Putih, South Tangerang, Banten, is surrounded by settlements as seen on Saturday (28/9/2019). Based on data from the Ciliwung-Cisadane River Basin Agency, Rompong reservoir\'s area has shrunk from initially 10 hectares to only 2.99 hectares, mainly due to massive housing construction.

BBWSCC head Bambang Hidayah said that the central government managed interprovincial watershed areas (DAS), including the lakes in those areas. “Some 208 lakes in Greater Jakarta are state assets,” Bambang said in mid-September.

Individual and corporate lake management often ends up as civil dispute cases at court. However, the state almost always loses the litigation.

The Supreme Court (MA) judgment registry lists the owners of SHM, HGB and girik. For instance, the registered owner of Lake Kayu Antep is PT Hana Kreasi Persada. Meanwhile, PT Fantasi Gunung Putri holds at least 59 girik for Lake Gunung Putri that were purchased from the local people. The ownership of Situ Rompang is under dispute at Tangerang District Court between PT Harapan Permai Indonesia (PT Harperindo), which holds the land deed to the area, and the South Tangerang municipal administration and the South Tangerang Land Agency.

Cannot be owned

Selling lakes should be banned. The government has declared lakes as water catchment areas and protected water conservation and flood control zones. The Finance Ministry’s state assets directorate general lists 208 lakes in Greater Jakarta as state assets.

KOMPAS/RYAN RINALDY

A signpost is installed by the People Housing and Public Work Ministry in Gunung Putri reservoir border, Bogor regency, West Java, as seen on Monday (9/9/2019). The signpost states that the area there is state land. Some green areas in South Tangerang extensively shrink due to the conversion of functions into housing.

“Lakes, both natural and manmade, cannot be owned. People can use them, not own them,” said Encep Sudarwan the director of state-owned goods at the directorate general.

In reality, however, the government has faced difficulty in protecting Greater Jakarta’s lakes, which have been sold off or converted for specific uses. Court rulings legitimize developers’ ownership of lakes.

PT Hana Kreasi Persada president director Hendrik Kadarusman said that the company was not the first to own Lake Kayu Antep, the SHM for which it had purchased from the descendant of the original owner.

A court ruling also legitimized the ownership of 15 hectares that the BBWSCC had declared as part of Lake Gunung Putri by PT Fantasi Gunung Putri, which was represented by Hans Karyose. Hans’ lawyer Topan Oddye Prasetyo said that his client held all the release of rights to the land. “We have all the documents,” he said.

PT Harperindo, which owns three SHM for Lake Rompang, has filed a civil suit at Tangerang District Court in its attempt to gain full ownership of the lake. PT Harperindo representative Rasyid Tarmizi said that four SHMs existed for Lake Rompang, but the company only held three SHMs that covered 3 hectares.

KOMPAS/RYAN RINALDY

Two residents, Saturday (7/9/2019), are cleaning the water of Gunung Putri Reservoir, Bogor regency, West Java, from water hyacinth. Some of the area there is currently being the objects of disputes involving the community holding land documents with the government.

Land and spatial use management director general Budi Situmorang of the Agrarian and Spatial Planning Ministry said that certificates issued in the past could lead to the loss of lakes as state assets. “That’s the way it was [back then]. We recognize that [certificate issuance] was problematic in the past,” he said.

The loss of lakes as a result of land conversion has caused disasters. Lake Ciming in Depok has recently been converted into the Mekar Perdana housing complex. Sulaeman and Widarso, who live in the complex, said that Mekar Perdana was flooded every rainy season since 2005.

Lake Asem, which is located in Mekarwangi subdistrict of Tanah Sareal, Bogor, was converted into the Tamansari Persada housing complex in 1998. local resident Icah said that his house was always flooded during heavy rains since then.

University of Indonesia agrarian law expert Suparjo said that to save the remaining lakes in Greater Jakarta, the National Land Agency (BPN) should be more than just a land surveyor. The BPN should not readily issue certificates for lakes, and that the BPN should work actively to preserve protected areas, including lakes.

(MDN/ADY/SPW)