Jakarta, May 14 -- The Environment Ministry has called on the West Java Provincial Government to re-evaluate its regional spatial plan regarding the removal of 1.4 million hectares of protected areas, which could exacerbate the risk of flooding.

Speaking during a working meeting with Commission XII of the House of Representatives (DPR) here on Wednesday, Minister of Environment Hanif Faisol Nurofiq stated that his side conducted an evaluation after recent flooding in Greater Jakarta, whose drainage basins originate in West Java.

"We are requesting a review of the West Java regional spatial plan that included the removal of nearly 1.4 million hectares of protected areas," he remarked.

Nurofiq stressed that spatial planning needs to be r...