Maritime Affairs Coordinating Minister Luhut Binsar Panjaitan has said Jakarta Governor-elect Anies Baswedan and his deputy, Sandiaga Uno, cannot cancel the reclamation project in Jakarta Bay, stressing that the project is under the central government's control.

“Don’t be noisy in front of the public. If you don’t agree, just tell us because we are the ones who conducted the research,” said Luhut on Monday as reported by kompas.com.

Last Thursday, Luhut issued a letter to revoke a moratorium on the reclamation project imposed by his predecessor, Rizal Ramli, last year. The letter was issued only days before the inauguration of Anies and Sandiaga, scheduled to be held on Oct. 16.

Read also: Government officially lifts moratorium on Jakarta reclamation project

Sandiaga had met Luhut at the latter’s office to question the decision to revoke the moratorium.

Sandiaga stressed that Anies and himself, who had promised to stop the reclamation during the election campaign, would maintain their stance. “We have decided that the reclamation should be stopped,” he said.

Sandiaga said the islets that had already been constructed should be used as tourism areas so that all Jakarta people could benefit from the reclamation.

Luhut argued that the research on the reclamation project had been carried out by related ministries, state-owned electricity company PT PLN, and two state owned energy firms: PT Nusantara Regas and PT Pertamina Hulu Energi (PHE).

Regarding islet G, Luhut said he had demanded the developer find a solution for the undersea cable network of coal-based power plants (PLTU) in Muara Karang, which were affected by the project. (bbn)