Rampant deforestation blamed for Langkat flash flood<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta\/Medan<\/p>\n
Government officials have joined environmental activists in
\nblaming inconsistent forest management and poor law enforcement
\nas the main causes of rampant deforestation that resulted in the
\nflash flood which killed at least 103 people on Sunday. Hundreds
\nare missing following the flood in Langkat regency, North
\nSumatra.<\/p>\n
\"Yes. It's due to unprofessional management. We're not
\ndisciplined,\" Vice President Hamzah Haz said on Tuesday,
\ncommenting on the disaster.<\/p>\n
Hamzah admitted that the blame lay not only with the forestry
\nsector but also the mining sector, both of which harm the
\necosystem.<\/p>\n
Hamzah said that the authorities must not hesitate to take
\nharsh action against illegal logging, which plays a major role in
\nthe rampant deforestation in Sumatra.<\/p>\n
Citing Langkat administration reports, Coordinating Minister
\nfor People's Welfare Jusuf Kalla said that the flash flood in
\nLangkat, located on the slopes of the Mount Leuser National Park
\n(TNGL), was partly due to rampant illegal logging there.<\/p>\n
\"The (Langkat) regent reported that the flash flood also swept
\nup logs that resulted in the deaths of scores of people,\" he told
\nreporters.<\/p>\n
Apart from rampant deforestation, the floods were also said to
\nbe triggered by heavy rains from 10 p.m on Sunday until 1 a.m. on
\nMonday. Suparwi, the Medan Meteorology and Geophysics Agency
\n(BMG), revealed that his office recorded 66 millimeters of
\nrainfall on Sunday, two mm on Monday and nine mm on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The average monthly rainfall in the area is 238 mm.<\/p>\n
The agency had earlier warned of possible heavy rains at the
\nbeginning of the rainy season, which started at the end of
\nOctober.<\/p>\n
The Langkat administration said that the Mount Leuser National
\nPark had lost some 40,000 hectares of its total of 788,000
\nhectares of land.<\/p>\n
However, environmental organizations have estimated that the
\npark has lost some 22 percent, or 170 hectares of its land, due
\nto illegal logging and illegal conversion of the park land into
\nfarmlands.<\/p>\n
However the forestry ministry blamed the illegal development
\nof houses on riverbanks as the source of problems causing the
\nflash flood.<\/p>\n
Koes Saparjadi, the Director General of Nature and Forest
\nConservation, said that the Landsat satellite image revealed that
\nforest around the site where the disaster occurred was still in a
\ngood condition.<\/p>\n
He concluded that the flash flood occurred because the upper
\nside of the Bahorok river, one of five that flows through the
\nregency, was possibly clogged up by soil due to the landslide.<\/p>\n
\"The conclusion followed reports that the flood swept up trees
\n(not logs), so it was not (the result of illegal logging),\" Koes
\nwas quoted by Antara as saying.<\/p>\n
Koes claimed that his ministry had asked the North Sumatra
\nadministration to remove illegal settlers from the Bahorok
\nriverbank in 1998, however, several residents expressed
\nopposition.<\/p>\n
He promised that his ministry would find out whether the
\ndisaster was purely a natural disaster or otherwise.<\/p>\n
Koes also announced that his ministry has asked the Langkat
\nadministration to close the Bukit Lawang resort in Langkat
\ntemporarily in a bid to prevent more casualties.<\/p>\n
The disaster in the resort area is not the first of its kind
\nin the country in the last couple of years. At least 26 people
\ndied when a flash flood and mudslide buried a hot springs resort,
\nlocated around the forests of state-owned Perhutani, in Pacet,
\nMojokerto in East Java last December. Authorities had also cited
\nillegal logging as the possible cause of the disaster.<\/p>\n
Non-governmental organizations have repeatedly asked the
\ngovernment to be serious in clamping down on illegal logging.<\/p>\n
Indonesia has lost more than 75 percent of its forests over
\nthe past few decades, leaving only 60 million hectares today. In
\nthe past five years, some 43 million hectares of Indonesia's
\nforests, or the equivalent of more than half of Kalimantan has
\nbeen damaged.<\/p>\n
The World Bank predicts that if the current rapid pace of
\ndeforestation continues, Indonesia could lose Sumatra's forests
\nin 2005, with Kalimantan to follow five years later.<\/p>\n
The Indonesian Forum on the Environment (Walhi) raised the
\npossibility of the role of a controversial road project in the
\ndisaster. The plan to connect Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam to North
\nSumatra by road, known as Ladia Galaska, includes the clearing of
\nland in some parts of the Mount Leuser National Park.<\/p>\n
\"The project has increased illegal logging activities. It is
\ntrue that the initial project is in Aceh, but we must remember
\nthat the ecosystem is like a net. If some parts are harmed, it
\nwould affect other parts,\" Walhi director Longgena Ginting said.<\/p>\n
Earlier, the Leuser Management Unit had warned that the
\nproject could damage between 200 square kilometers to 400 square
\nkilometers of forest in the park.<\/p>\n
Separately, the Indonesia Center for Environmental Law (ICEL)
\ncalled on the central government to help local administrations to
\ntackle illegal logging and illegal conversion of protected
\nforests into commercial areas.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/rampant-deforestation-blamed-for-langkat-flash-flood-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}