|
World Rainforest
Movement
December, 2003
With more than a year into its construction, the
controversial US$1.2 million Ladia Galaska road
network project will link the west coast of Aceh with
the eastern coast of northern Sumatra. Over 90
kilometers out of the planned 505-kilometer-long road
cuts through the relatively pristine forest of the
central highlands at the Leuser national park, and
this would have notorious permanent negative impacts
on the environment.
The debate around the project reignited when a huge
flash flood on November 2, in Mount Leuser National
Park, nearby North Sumatra province, took a toll of
more than 150 dead and scores missing.
The government in Jakarta blamed illegal loggers for
the flood. However, an investigation by the European
Union-funded Leuser Management Unit has concluded that
the floods were a result of landslides in the northern
part of the park, which blocked the Bohorok River,
causing it to finally burst, creating a flash flood.
Critics of the road project charge it for the tragedy
on the grounds that it has disrupted the Leuser park
environment and is setting the stage for an even
greater environmental disaster. There is also a feel
that the Ladia Galaska project will accelerate the
destruction of the last significant area of tropical
forest on the island of Sumatra.
The Indonesian Forum on Environment (Walhi) is
pursuing a lawsuit against Aceh governor Abdullah
Puteh in relation to the construction of the highway
and wants the project to be stopped. Yarrow Robertson,
director of the Leuser Management Unit, has been
studying the Leuser ecosystem for more than 20 years.
He says a road planned through the national park to
Bohorok, the site of the recent flood, as part of the
Ladia Galaska project, would bring other problems too.
It would speed up erosion on mountain slopes and cross
more than 1,000 rivers and streams, he argues.
Below it would lie 580 villages potentially facing
landslides and other flooding catastrophes as a
result. According to Robertson: „floods and landslides
in Aceh and northern Sumatra will be 100 times worse
if the Ladia Galaska highway is built“. He pointed out
that since 1,000 rivers flow through the Leuser
ecosystem, they are likely to flood annually, and if
each time they killed 10 people, then 10,000 could
die.
It may be wise to see through the alleged reasons for
the works. The government of Aceh argues that the
highway is needed to improve the economy of its
isolated central highlands, which is connected to the
rest of the province by one badly maintained road.
However, environmentalists suggests that the highway,
which failed an environmental impact assessment, could
easily be replaced by a railway, which would not cause
as much environmental damage by encroachment on the
forest. Indeed, it appears that the road would benefit
only few people, while water from the Leuser ecosystem
sustains more than two million farmers.
Undoubtedly, logging activities will be enabled
through easy access to the forest. There are also
accusations that the government has backed the road
because it will be a goldmine for local officials who
can hand out building contracts to logging companies
and a bonus to local mayors who approve logging
permits. Also, several oil palm plantations adjacent
to the projected route will benefit from the highway.
Government officials are still divided over the issue.
While Forestry Minister M. Prakosa and State Minister
for the Environment Nabiel Makarim have expressed
opposition to the project, Minister of Settlement and
Infrastructure Soenarno appears to be supportive,
claiming that the road project would not increase
illegal logging.
If the project were to be completed, the main
beneficiaries would be a handful of people with power.
At the receiving end, local peoples and their
environment would have to bear the negative
consequences: floods, landslides, forest, biodiversity
and livelihood loss. There is still time to avoid this
happening.
|
Environment
