Lake Spatial Planning to Be Divided into Several Zones

The government plans to draft regulations for the zoning of special lake water areas. Nazib Faizal, Deputy for Basic Infrastructure Coordination at the Coordinating Ministry for Infrastructure and Regional Development, revealed that the plan is currently being prepared by the Ministry of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning/National Land Agency (“ATR/BPN”).

“So we’ve had discussions with the Ministry of ATR/BPN, which will oversee spatial planning for lakes, so we’ll be defining specific zones moving forward,” said Nazib.

He explained that the policy currently being drafted will divide lake areas into specific zones to prevent overlapping land uses. The designated zones consist of: a floating net cage zone, a floating solar power plant (“PLTS”) zone to support energy self-sufficiency, and an emergency operations zone, specifically an emergency airstrip for responding to forest and land fires.

The primary focus of these restrictions is to organize and rationalize the number of floating net cages in accordance with the lake’s ecosystem carrying capacity. This measure was chosen to control nitrogen and phosphorus levels, which can cause mass fish deaths.

Under this scheme, Nazib explained that local governments play a crucial role in operational aspects, specifically regarding permitting, regulation, and law enforcement in the field, to ensure compliance with the zoning regulations.