There seems to be some kind of confusion among Indonesian officials about the future of Benoa Bay, which was declared a maritime conservation site last week. While there are reasons why that may not seem like the final say for Benoa Bay, Bali Governor I Wayan Koster this week emphasized that the announcement effectively cancelled the controversial reclamation of the area.
Koster was actually responding to a claim from Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Luhut Pandjaitan, who said that the reclamation of Benoa Bay was never cancelled despite its official designation as a maritime conservation area by Marine Affairs and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti.
Luhut said that a 2014 Presidential Regulation (Perpres), which was issued by former President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, is still applicable for Benoa Bay.
“It’s still according to the [2014] Perpres, that’s what I know. There’s no [cancellation] yet,” Luhut was quoted as saying last Friday.
Koster responded to that particular statement earlier this week on Tuesday, where he told local media that Luhut ought to just stay quiet.
“[Minister Luhut] said the Perpres is still valid, but actually it cannot be implemented. I am asking [Minister Luhut] to refrain from creating a polemic, just stay quiet,” Koster said, as quoted by Kompas.com.
The 2014 Perpres had changed the status of Benoa Bay to a commercial zone from a designated environmental buffer zone and green-belt area. Koster noted this, but also highlighted that the implementation of the Perpres itself is under the authority of Susi’s ministry.
“The Perpres does exist, but [reclamation] cannot be done because it’s been cancelled by the Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries,” Koster said, explaining that the cancellation was basically laid out in last week’s Ministerial Decision, which was signed by Susi.
The Decision stipulates that around 1,243 hectares of the Benoa Bay area are to be made into a conservation site.
Despite his comments last week, when reporters asked questions related to Benoa Bay to Luhut on Tuesday, he instead claimed that he has yet to learn about the Ministerial Decision and how it affects the implementation of the 2014 Perpres.
“I have not studied it yet. Later, I’ll look into it,” Luhut was quoted as saying, reportedly after a meeting with President Joko Widodo.
We might expect more back and forth among Indonesian officials, which might make the Benoa Bay issue a little more confusing in the coming days. However, it seems pretty clear that the 2014 Perpres remains an instrumental piece for the future of Benoa Bay.
It seems that Susi’s ministry is aware of this, and are working to push a new Presidential Regulation, or at least revising the one from 2014, with the Ministerial Decision on Benoa Bay as a maritime conservation area serving as a basis to move forward.
“We have held one meeting with the State Secretariat, there’s a bit of push and pull here so now we have to ensure a clear-cut approach. So if we are going to revise [the Perpres] now, what will it look like,” Brahmantya Satyamurti, director-general of marine spatial management at the ministry, told Tempo.
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