Environmental damage unabated<\/p>\n
Bambang Nurbianto and Theresia Sufa, The Jakarta Post, Bogor<\/p>\n
Devastating floods hit Greater Jakarta recently, paralyzing most
\nof the capital for three weeks from late January to mid-February.
\nAt least 22 people died and 300,000 were displaced across the
\ncity. Many people, particularly environmentalists, blamed
\nuncontrolled, illegal construction in several designated \"green
\nareas\" in and around the capital as the major causes of the Great
\nFlood of 2002.<\/p>\n
Last week The Jakarta Post visited the Bopunjur green area,
\nwhich was designated as the main water catchment area for the
\nupper Ciliwung river, which eventually flows through Jakarta.<\/p>\n
The issue of environmental damage in the Puncak area in Bogor
\nand Cianjur regencies, West Java, has featured in almost all
\npublications in the nation following the recent huge floods that
\nhit Jakarta.<\/p>\n
The upland area should be maintained as a green area that
\nfunctions as a water catchment and environmental buffer zone.
\nBut it continues to see the conversion of green areas into
\nbusinesses and settlements, such as villas and hotels.<\/p>\n
The environmental damage will likely be unstoppable, at least
\nin the near future, as so far there is no positive sign that
\nenvironmentally friendly development policies might be adopted in
\nthese areas.<\/p>\n
Four presidential decrees, issued between 1963 and 1999, have
\nproved toothless in trying to prevent environmental damage.<\/p>\n
In the latest presidential decree, the Puncak area, which is
\nalso known by the acronym Bopunjur, covers 11 subdistricts in
\nBogor regency, three subdistricts in Cianjur regency and three
\nsubdistricts in both Cianjur mayoralty and Depok mayoralty, (all
\nin West Java), and two subdistricts in Tangerang regency, Banten
\nprovince.<\/p>\n
But the current focus of public attention, however, is on the
\nPuncak tourist resort in three subdistricts in Bogor -- Cisarua,
\nCiawi and Mega Mendung -- which cover 18,298.9 hectares of land.
\nThe area functions as a water catchment for the Ciliwung river,
\nwhich originates here and subsequently flows into the Java sea
\nvia Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Environmental damage due to continuing conversion of green
\nareas, such as forests and tea plantations, into businesses and
\nsettlement areas is believed to have contributed to the
\ndevastating floods in the capital from late January to mid-
\nFebruary.<\/p>\n
The areas that have been extensively covered over with
\nconcrete can no longer absorb rainwater. The flooding in Jakarta
\nwas made worse, as the rain water in the areas directly flowed
\nthrough the Ciliwung river and its tributaries into Jakarta.<\/p>\n
The Ciliwung river has at least seven tributaries originating
\nin the area: the Cisukabarus, Cibogo, Cisarua, Cilember, Ciluar,
\nCisesek, and Cibuluh.<\/p>\n
Another indication of environmental damage in Bopunjur is the
\nlevel of erosion. Every year some 400 tons of mud from each
\nhectare of land are transported to the Ciliwung river through the
\ntributaries. The tolerable erosion rate is 39 tons per year per
\nhectare.<\/p>\n
Mas Ahmad Santoso of the Indonesian Center for Environmental
\nLaw (ICEL) said weak law enforcement would worsen environmental
\nconditions in the area. \"A crackdown against illegal villas
\nshould be carried out, otherwise it will encourage others to
\nindulge in similar illegal activities,\" he told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
Mas Ahmad is right. People in several villages in the Puncak
\nhave easily occupied state land without fear of legal action by
\nthe authorities.<\/p>\n
Such illegal occupation of state land in the areas is still
\ntaking place.<\/p>\n
Ace Sulaeman of the state-owned plantation company PTP
\nNusantara VIII Perkebunan Gunung Emas said over 400 hectares of
\nstate land had been claimed by people known as penggarap
\n(cultivators) after they cut down the tea plants.<\/p>\n
\"Cultivator\" is a term that does not only refer to local
\nfarmers, who cultivate state land, as it could be rich people
\nfrom Jakarta, who bought state land from illegal occupants.<\/p>\n
The state land occupation began in 1997 when the land
\nconcession (HGU) of the state plantation company PTP Nusantara
\nVII expired. From that time, people did not only occupy the
\nnonproductive state land, but also cleared away tea plantations,
\nwhich were still productive.<\/p>\n
The people thought they could freely cultivate the state land,
\nwhose status was not clear as to whether it was part of PTP
\nNusantara VII's cultivation rights on about 1,700 hectares of tea
\nplantation in the area.<\/p>\n
The land speculators worsened the condition. The speculators
\nwanted to buy the land from the cultivators although the land was
\nnot supported by adequate documentation.<\/p>\n
\"As we know that the land is owned by the state, we will not
\nissue any transaction documents. We may only make a note about
\nany deal, without further consequences,\" said head of Tugu Utara
\nvillage in Cisarua subdistrict, Jajat Sudrajat.<\/p>\n
But many others made transactions without their being
\nwitnessed by government officials. The land buyers were mostly
\nrich people, who did not care about the amount of money they
\nspent on buying state land, at a price of only Rp 15,000 per
\nsquare meter, said Ace, adding that many of them bought the land
\nby the hectare.<\/p>\n
Initially, the new buyers of state land simply hired farmers
\nto cultivate the land for vegetables, such as tomatoes, cabbages,
\nmustard greens and onions. But in the long term, they built
\nvillas or houses.<\/p>\n
Dozens of such buildings could be found on state land in
\nseveral villages in Cisarua subdistricts, like Kopo, Sukagalih,
\nand Cidokom.<\/p>\n
\"There are five villas built on state land in this village. I
\nhave reported them to the subdistrict office, but I have not seen
\nany followup,\" said Hudan Mutakin, head of Sukagalih village,
\nlocated some eight kilometers from the main road connecting
\nJakarta and Cianjur.<\/p>\n
Tea plantations were not the only target of land speculators
\nas the 127 hectares of Balekambang reserve forests and 125
\nhectares of Mandalawangi protected forest in Cisarua have been
\ntotally occupied by the cultivators and land speculators,
\naccording to Ace.<\/p>\n
\"If the authorities cannot stop the change of use of the green
\nareas to other functions such as villas, the flooding problem in
\nJakarta cannot be comprehensively resolved,\" Mas Ahmad concluded.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/environmental-damage-unabated-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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