ADB to help government in Aceh railway plan<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will assist the
\ngovernment in conducting a feasibility study for the development
\nof a 486-kilometer railway line in Aceh, a senior government
\nofficial said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Bambang Bintoro, a deputy for infrastructure development at
\nthe National Development Planning Board (Bappenas), said the
\nstudy was needed to prevent the recurrence of blunders from
\ndeveloping megaprojects in the past, including the notorious
\nKalimantan peatland project.<\/p>\n
"The feasibility study is essential because we don't want to
\nrepeat the same mistakes again," he told members of House of
\nRepresentatives' Commission VIII on the state budget and finance
\nduring a hearing.<\/p>\n
The Rp 3.5 trillion (US$538.46 million) railway project was
\npromised by President B.J. Habibie, who is a German-trained
\naeronautical engineer, during a recent visit to the troubled
\nprovince.<\/p>\n
The promise is an apparent bid to appease demands from the
\nAcehnese for serious investigations into reported rampant human
\nrights abuses during the 32-year presidency of Soeharto.<\/p>\n
Bambang said the government had started the railway project,
\nconnecting the provincial capital of Banda Aceh and Langsa town
\nin East Aceh, with initial investment of Rp 27 billion.<\/p>\n
About 20 km of the line have been developed with financing
\nfrom the state budget, but he said the complete structure of the
\nproject would not be available until completion of the
\nfeasibility study.<\/p>\n
He declined to identify the contractors.<\/p>\n
Aceh has been plagued by increasing social and political
\ntension due to renewed separatist activity, including arson and
\nshootings in several parts of the oil-rich province.<\/p>\n
The government has sent in more riot troops in a bid to quell
\nthe separatist movement.<\/p>\n
Bambang declined to comment on whether the project might be
\ndelayed due to the unrest, saying it would be better to wait
\nuntil the feasibility study was completed.<\/p>\n
The government has often been criticized for spending lavishly
\non megaprojects without conducting proper feasibility studies.<\/p>\n
One example was the ambitious one-million hectare peatland
\nconversion scheme in Central Kalimantan which was launched by
\nSoeharto in early 1997.<\/p>\n
Habibie stopped the project last month and ordered his
\nministers to help resettle the 61,000 transmigrants.<\/p>\n
The project involved converting one million hectares of land
\ninto 638,000 hectares of rice fields. The remaining 362,000
\nhectares were to be used for horticulture, plantations,
\nconservation areas, housing and reservoirs. The government spent
\nabout Rp 2 trillion on the project before it was abandoned.<\/p>\n
A government investigation found last year that the peatland
\nproject destroyed 1.4 million hectares of forest, caused forest
\nfires, polluted rivers and threatened the habitat of orangutans
\nand proboscis monkeys.<\/p>\n
"We don't want the (Aceh) railway project to repeat these
\nkinds of mistakes," Bambang said.<\/p>\n
He added that the government spent a considerable amount on
\ncleaning up the environmental damage caused by the peatland
\nproject.<\/p>\n
However, he was unable to disclose the exact amount because it
\nis still being calculated.(rei)<\/p>",
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