Ecosystem and Development - An Irony

Is there any development that does not destroy the environment? It is an irony. There are almost a lot of projects will eliminate balance ecosystem. In my opinion, there are many aspects that development often ignores ecosystem. They are profit oriented projects and centralistic developments.

I live in Bekasi. Bekasi is in the east of Jakarta. Now, Bekasi is growing because the number of population increases sharply because of urbanization. The number of population of Bekasi was 3,214,791 people in 2022. The population density per km was 2,524 in 2022. Jayapura Regency had population density 431 people per km in 2021. It is the most densed city in Papua.

Source : https://papua.bps.go.id/indicator/12/52/1/kepadatan-penduduk.html
https://bekasikab.bps.go.id/statictable/2024/01/10/3708/kepadatan-penduduk-per-km-menurut-kecamatan-di-kabupaten-bekasi-2022.html

Jakarta is not the main destination for urbanites today. They go to cities around Jakarta like Bekasi, Depok, Tangerang and Bogor. Some industries and busines offices are opened in those regencies. They attract workers from all over Indonesia. The urbanites not only come from Java island but also from other islands in Indonesia like Sumatra, Kalimantan, Papua, NTT, Sulawesi and Bali.

Many urbanites in Jakarta and its surroundings need a place to live. The property developers see this phenomena as the opportunities. They buy land and build new houses. Unfortunately, the development of houses do not pay attention to the balance ecosystem. The developers build houses on agricultural lands that become water reservoirs when it rains. If you see there is a lot of flood in rainy season, you will know the reason.

It is fact that I see. A year ago, this area was a rice field. Today the rice field is filled up to be used as housing. A year later, there will be houses here.

Some phisical projects often ignore ecology. The large population is a bussines opportunity. Therefore, businessmen work to earn as much as profit. Environment is the second thing because the regulation is also permissive. Most of property development take up agricultural lands in Bekasi. It is because those lands have strategic location to workplaces or industrial parks. Buyers will not also think about the ecology, they use their fund to buy properties that close to their worlplaces and public facilities. The demand of properties is high.

A big chain of traditional restaurant put its investment here. The management build a big restaurant on the main high way near new housings. The restaurant is always full in the meal time. It is a fact that there are many opportunities because of the growth of population.

The centralistic development is a matter of policy. The government will earn a lot of taxes from the busines activities in the regions. There is a symbiotic mutualism between project developments and tax revenue. Difficult regulations will make investors reluctant to spend their money. Centralistic development policies will continue to be implemented in my opinion.

In the end, the policy to preserve the agricultural land should be enforce by politicians who care about environment and food security. Development that protects food sources and the environment can be implemented by political decisions.