Rafting body chief gives priority to safety<\/p>\n
By Primastuti Handayani and Riyadi<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): After having an accident in 1988 she quit
\nwhitewater rafting for three years. But now she heads the newly-
\nestablished Indonesian Whitewater Rafting Federation.<\/p>\n
\"I got into an accident the first time I rafted; my marine
\nraft broke into two after hitting a large rock,\" said 29-year-old
\nAmalia Yunita. But that was eight years ago, when rafting was new
\nhere.<\/p>\n
She started up again in 1991, when her university friends on
\nthe Aranyacala female rafting team asked her to join the team's
\nrafting expedition in Alas River, Aceh. Since then, rafting has
\nbecome one of her favorite activities, besides cave exploring,
\nrock climbing and mountain climbing.<\/p>\n
Together with her fiancee Lody R. Korua and some of her
\nfriends, Yunita -- who was then a civil engineer -- established a
\ncommercial rafting firm, PT Lintas Jeram Nusantara, in September
\n1995. It is popularly known as Arus Liar.<\/p>\n
Arus Liar operates rafting rides on the Citarik River in West
\nJava, where it competes with its sister company, Buaya Jeram
\nSungai. When a rafting federation was formed in March this year
\nby 38 professional and amateur rafting associations, Yunita was
\nappointed chairwoman.<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post interviewed Yunita to get her views on the
\ndevelopment of rafting as a favorite weekend pastime for yuppies.<\/p>\n
QUESTION: Whitewater rafting used to be regarded as a
\ndangerous sport, especially after a number of people were killed
\nhere in Indonesia. How did it then become so popular among
\nyuppies here?<\/p>\n
ANSWER: Whitewater rafting has been around in Indonesia since
\n1975, when there was a competition on the Citarum River, West
\nJava, organized by the Wanadri nature lovers club. At that time,
\nmost of the participants did not have any knowledge about
\nrafting. They had guts but improper equipment. As a result, seven
\npeople died.<\/p>\n
The media began to dwell on rafting accidents and people
\nstarted to get scared of the sport. It was an international
\nwhitewater rafting expedition, called Sobek Expedition, that
\nintroduced whitewater rafting as a commercial sport in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Sobek, which was part of the Mountain Travel expedition
\ncompany, introduced commercial whitewater rafting on the Alas
\nriver in Aceh, the Ayung river in Bali, the Sa'adah river in
\nSulawesi and the Citarik river in West Java.<\/p>\n
Now there are more than 100 whitewater rafting clubs in the
\ncountry, of which only 11 are professionally managed. And then we
\nhave the federation, which groups not only the commercial clubs
\nbut also the non-commercial clubs, including those from
\nuniversities.<\/p>\n
Q: What's the idea behind establishing a federation?<\/p>\n
A: We have some commercial rafting operators which are very
\nadvanced in terms of equipment compared to the others. However,
\nthere are non-commercial rafting clubs which do not have proper
\nequipment. They still use marine rafts, for instance.<\/p>\n
Well, many of those clubs take guests because they see it as a
\nprofitable business. But most of them are not serious. They don't
\nhave proper equipment for their guests' safety. It worrying
\nbecause if there's an accident, then all of us will take the
\nblame.<\/p>\n
Commercial and non-commercial rafting clubs have to help each
\nother and reduce the number of rafting casualties, if possible to
\na zero level. The accidents are usually caused by a lack of
\nknowledge and proper equipment. For instance, they do not survey
\nthe river first, or use proper rafts.<\/p>\n
The more river rafting accidents you have the more difficult
\nit will be for commercial clubs to attract guests. When Arus Liar
\nstarted its operation it had difficulties in marketing its
\nproduct. People were still scared of rafting because of the media
\naccounts of so many people being killed in rafting accidents.<\/p>\n
Therefore, commercial and non-commercial rafting clubs
\nestablished the federation so that the members could exchange
\nviews and knowledge and communicate with each other. In addition,
\nthey can also exchange guests. We now have better relationships
\namong commercial rafting groups. However, some commercial clubs
\nrefuse to join the federation and think that they only have to
\ngive a donation to the federation.<\/p>\n
Q: Do you get support from the government?<\/p>\n
A: Yes, we receive support from Pak Sarwono (Kusumaatmadja,
\nState Minister of the Environment) and Maj. Gen. Soeharto, the
\nmarine commander, who is our patron.<\/p>\n
Q: What are your plans as the new head of the federation?<\/p>\n
A: First of all, we will try to convince those who are not yet
\nmembers to join us. By joining the federation, they will get a
\nlot of advantages, like what I have just explained. Of course,
\nthey will be competing against each other to attract guests but
\nit should be done fairly.<\/p>\n
We will try to set standards and criteria for equipment and
\nrafting guides to ensure that they provide secure rafting
\nservices to customers.<\/p>\n
We will also continue rafting promotion activities so more and
\nmore people will try whitewater rafting, either for a hobby or
\njust for relaxing on weekends.<\/p>\n
Q: Do commercial clubs have to insure their guests?<\/p>\n
A: As far as I know, there is no government regulation. Only a
\nfew rafting firms insure their customers. The federation plans to
\ninclude insurance requirements for the establishment of
\ncommercial rafting firms. So, when people ask for recommendations
\non how to start the business, we will require them to provide
\nlife insurance for their guests and also their rafting guides.<\/p>\n
Q: There are those who say that commercial whitewater rafting
\ndamages the environment, especially the river. How would you
\nrespond?<\/p>\n
A: I've heard cynical comments from some non-governmental
\norganizations that we -- commercial rafting operators -- damage
\nthe environment. Of course that's not true. We have invited them
\nto try our rafting trips to show them that we do not cause any
\ndamage. If we did, we wouldn't be able to sell rafting to our
\nmain customers, who are middle and upper-class people that are
\naware of environmental issues.<\/p>\n
Arus Liar has invested a lot of money to help preserve the
\nenvironment. We needed nearly a year to change the behavior of
\nour local staff, like refraining from throwing garbage into the
\nriver. We have some 50 local staff members. We also cooperate
\nwith local administrations to educate the those living on river
\nbanks about the importance of keeping the rivers clean.<\/p>\n
Yes, there are still people who wash their clothes in the
\nriver. We cannot do much about this because if we don't want them
\nto wash in the river, we must provide washing places for them
\naway from the river.<\/p>\n
Arus Liar is now studying the prospects of opening a branch on
\nthe Cicatih river. The water is dirty but the streams are good.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/rafting-body-chief-gives-priority-to-safety-1447893297",
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