- Govt team calls for scrapping of Ladia Galaska road project
Saturday, May 08, 2004
PC Naommy, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
A team assigned to assess the feasibility of the controversial Ladia Galaska highway urged the government on Friday to halt the project entirely or make major changes in the planning.
"The alternative solutions would be to stop the project altogether, or still continue it but abandon several roads planned in the project to ensure against natural disasters," said Nelly, a member of the joint steering committee comprised of the Ministry of Forestry, State Ministry for the Environment and the Ministry of Resettlement and Regional Infrastructure.
According to the team, the 500-kilometer road project had more negative than positive impacts and would not significantly improve the economic situation in Aceh.
Nelly said the project would cause environmental damage because it was being constructed in forested areas with inclines of more than 40ø. These areas are prone to landslides and earthquakes.
The project has drawn strong opposition from environmental activists, who allege the road would only encourage illegal logging in the Leuser National Park and further aggravate floods and landslides.
This criticism prompted the government to set up the team comprising government officials and environmental activists to study the project.
According to Article 8 of Presidential Decree No. 32/1990, a forest which lies in areas with slopes of more than 40ø inclines must be categorized as a protected forest.
"Forests with such criteria should be maintained as protected forests to prevent floods, landslides and to maintain the ecological water catchment," said Nelly, adding that almost 70 percent of the planned roads would pass through areas with slopes of more than 40ø.
A project impact survey done by the Leuser Management Unit (UML) in late 2003 of more than 900 rivers in Aceh revealed 13 percent had dried up and the water surface of 274 of the rivers had receded.
State Minister Nabiel Makarim said earlier the road would also help drain the economy in Banda Aceh because it would take workers and resources out of the province. The continuing rural to urban shift in the area meant the road would cause a great concentration of business activity in Medan, North Sumatra, he said.
A geological field study showed six of the nine planned roads would run parallel to the Sumatra earthquake fault line, and three others would cross it.
Eko Soebowo from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), said the parallel roads, especially those that passed over the Bukit Barisan range, would be prone to earthquakes, landslides, and collapses.
Three roads that would pass over active faults, would be in even more danger, he said. These roads are Takengon-Isaq, Lumut-Iseisei, and Iseisei-Blang Kejeren. The fault line would cause high maintenance costs in the future, Eko said.
Head of the Ladia-Galaska Surveillance team Hery Harjono, a geologist from LIPI, said the team still had to summarize their results before submitting them to the three ministries.
"We will try to determine the best solution for the project," Hery said.
The team started their 10-day survey on March 16.