ADVERTISEMENTA tourism project tied to Donald Trump in Indonesia is being halted due to water management and environmental issues.
The 130 square kilometre project is the brainchild of the US President’s Indonesian business partner, billionaire and politician Hary Tanoesoedibjo, who attended Trump's inauguration in Washington last month.
His association with Trump began in 2014 when his group company, MNC, was looking for an operator for sprawling “six star” resorts, one to be built on the tourist island of Bali and the other near Jakarta.
In exchange for a cut of the revenue, the Trump Organization would manage hotels, golf courses and country clubs that would cost about $700 million (€678 mn) for MNC to build.
The projects form the core of larger developments that the company plans.
Inside The ‘Trump Community’ taking shape in Java
In a January 2017 interview with The Associated Press, Tanoesoedibjo, better known as Tanoe, said that developing ‘Lido City’ would take more than a decade and cost up to $3 billion (€2.9 bn), of which the Trump properties would cost more than $300 million (€290 mn).
The company has been promoting the project for years. In 2023, then Indonesian President Joko Widodo gave it special economic zone status, providing MNC Land with tax breaks and leniency on permits.
A sprawling “Trump Community” has been built since 2014 in this pocket of Indonesia’s most densely populated island, with a new toll road leading to it, located in Gunung Gede Pangrango, about 60 kilometres south of the capital, Jakarta. It is home to a new Trump golf course, which started offering membership last year.
Though a private development, Lido City suits the Indonesian government’s ambitions to create more tourist destinations that it hopes will be as popular as Bali.
It’s part of broader plans, including a huge theme park, that have alarmed conservationists who fear development will overwhelm habitats for some of the archipelago’s most threatened species.
Environment Ministry takes a stand against Trump resort
The Environment Ministry said in a statement on Friday that mismanagement of rainwater at the resort had caused sedimentation in Lido Lake, making it shallower and halving the size of the body of water to 120,000 square metres.
“The mismatch between environmental plans and physical implementation is a serious concern in efforts to preserve natural resources,” said Ardyanto Nugroho, the ministry's director of environmental complaints, monitoring and law enforcement.
He said that his team was still waiting for laboratory test results to determine further steps in the environmental law enforcement process.
“We committed to preserving the environment and will take firm action against violations that impact the ecosystem and surrounding communities,” Nugroho said.
Local media reports showed a board with a sign that the project was under “supervision” installed on one side of Lido Lake.
ADVERTISEMENTVital water source threatened by tourism plans in Java
Gunung Gede Pangrango is one of the last virgin tropical forests in Java, where only 2 per cent of original forest remains. It nurtures a dazzling variety of flora and fauna: more than 2,000 species of ferns, mosses and flowering plants, and 250 species of birds.
Endangered species include the Javan slow loris - the world’s only venomous primate - the Javan leaf monkey, the Javan leopard, whose total population numbers less than 250, and the Javan hawk-eagle and Javan silvery gibbon.
The park has a rehabilitation centre for silvery gibbons that have been rescued from the illegal wildlife trade. The gibbons, known for practicing lifelong monogamy and their distinctively small, intense faces, number fewer than 4,000 in the wild.
PT MNC Land President Director Budi Rustanto denied that his company's project had caused the sedimentation in Lido Lake, saying it also came from other projects, offices, housing and buildings in the surrounding area, including a government office compound and existing community settlements.
ADVERTISEMENTHe said that his property firm had followed the criteria and prerequisites related to the environmental impact analysis, known as AMDAL.
“Since 2013, we have always tried to overcome the problem of shallowing of the lake, this is because 50 per cent of the lake area is in our development area," Rustanto told Kompas news outlet, adding that a number of efforts will continue to be made to overcome the problem of shallowing of the lake, including dredging plans.
Environmentalists welcomed the government’s move as a sign that it was serious in addressing the failure of project management to consider the environmental impact near the land designated as a Special Economic Zone.
Executive Chair of Konservasi Indonesia, Meizani Irmadhiany, said the Lido area is one of the most important watersheds of the Cimandiri river and part of the landscape of Gunung Gede Pangrango National Park, not only for the people of West Java but also for the residents of Jakarta.
ADVERTISEMENT“The slope contours serve as a significant water catchment area, and the area planned for the project is located on critical land,” Irmadhiany said. “It is time for the business sector to prioritise environmental principles which have direct impacts on the environment and communities, as well as business itself in the long run, before and during development.”