Reclamation project threatens Muara Karang plant
Saturday, July 26 2003 - 04:51 AM WIB
The reclamation projects would not only make the power plant more prone to flood but also make it difficult for the power plant to get sea water for cooling, PLN's director for power generation for Java and Bali Bagiyo Ridwan was quoted by Kompas and Bisnis Indonesia as saying on Friday.
He made the statement following plans by some housing developers to reclaim lands near the power plant to develop waterfront housing complex.
The Muara Karang power plant supplies power to some important places in Jakarta including the presidential palace, the House of Representatives (DPR) building and Soekarno-Hatta International Airport. Thus, the reclamation project will put the power supplies at risk.
?The presidential palace, Soekarno-Hatta airport and the DPR building will receive no power supply at all if the Muara Karang plant is in trouble,? he said.
According to him, the plant has often been flooded by water sea despite the construction of a 2.5 meter-high embankment on the beach near the plant compound. The flooding of the water sea into the power plant complex is caused by the reclamation of several parts of the northern coastal areas by housing developers over the past several years. (*)