Sand quarriers damage Cisadane conservation area<\/p>\n
Theresia Sufa, The Jakarta Post, Bogor<\/p>\n
Mount Pasir Gudang has a seemingly inexhaustible supply of sand,
\nwhich hundreds of people are taking advantage of by illegally
\nquarrying for sand there.<\/p>\n
Covering a few hundred hectares, there are about 300 people
\nevery day illegally quarrying for sand there. These people, who
\nwork in groups of five to 10, come from the villages of Pasir
\nBuncir, Srogol and Wates Jaya, all in Bogor regency.<\/p>\n
The illegal quarriers, who dig as deep as 10 meters into the
\nmountain, are seemingly unconcerned about the possibility of a
\nlandslide burying them alive.<\/p>\n
Collect the sand quickly and get the money is the only thing
\non their mind. They don't care that they are trespassing on the
\nprivate property of Bakti Hendra, a wealthy businessman from
\nJakarta.<\/p>\n
These illegal sand quarriers have also turned a deaf ear to
\nwarnings that they are damaging a conservation area for the
\nCisadane River. They simply go through the gate that Bogor
\nregency administration has put up and dig up more sand.<\/p>\n
\"We need money to eat,\" they answer when asked why they do
\nwhat they do.<\/p>\n
One of the sand quarriers is Arman, 38, who comes from Pasir
\nBuncir village. He began digging for sand in 1997. Before that
\nhe sold corn, but his business went bust following the monetary
\ncrisis. To keep body and soul together, he shifted to sand
\nquarrying.<\/p>\n
\"If the Bogor regency administration bans sand quarrying here,
\nwe wouldn't have any income source. We only make between Rp
\n15,000 and Rp 20,000 a day, just enough to buy two kilograms of
\nrice,\" Arman said.<\/p>\n
Work at the site usually lasts from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. every
\nday. The sand is sold to a middleman for Rp 90,000 per truckload.
\nAs Arman has said, each person earns an average of Rp 20,000 a
\nday.<\/p>\n
The middleman then sells the sand to another middleman for
\nbetween Rp 150,000 and Rp 160,000 per truckload.<\/p>\n
One of the middlemen is Kuswandi, a resident of Srogol
\nvillage, Cijeruk district, Bogor regency. \"I buy the sand from
\nthe quarriers for Rp 90,000 and then I resell it to other men who
\nare based in Cijeruk district.\"<\/p>\n
\"I sell the sand for Rp 55,000 per cubic meter. Sometimes I
\ncan sell four truckloads a day. Recently, demand has been quite
\nlow. I hire 15 men to carry the sand. Each is paid Rp 10,000 a
\nday,\" said Samsir, 45, one of the middlemen in Cijeruk district.<\/p>\n
This illegal sand quarrying, which began in 1997, is done with
\nthe simplest of tools, like hoes, shovels and crowbars. Aside
\nfrom selling sand, the villagers also sell stones that they
\nexcavate from the area. They usually sell the stones for Rp
\n30,000 per cubic meter.<\/p>\n
It is clear that the illegal sand quarrying has caused damage
\nto the environment. The most serious damage occurred in 1999,
\nwhen a businessman brought in heavy machinery to carry out the
\nquarrying. This left seven hectares of the Cisadane River
\nconservation area denuded and seriously damaged.<\/p>\n
This environmental damage could prove harmful to the
\ncommunity, particularly those living in Jakarta and the outlying
\nareas of Bogor, Tangerang and Bekasi. It is feared that if the
\nupstream conservation area is destroyed, people living in
\ndownstream areas will be hit by flash floods during the rainy
\nseason and suffer from water shortages during the dry season.<\/p>\n
Almost every year, the environmental damage done to the
\nconservation area of the Cisadane River is a topic of debate
\nduring plenary meetings of the Bogor legislative council. The
\ncouncil tends to blame the Bogor regency administration for being
\ntoo soft in dealing with the illegal sand quarrying.<\/p>\n
The Bogor regency administration argues that it cannot take
\nstern action because the people doing the quarrying are poor and
\nare just trying to survive.<\/p>\n
Agus Mudrajadjat, the head of the public order office in
\nCaringin district, has his own explanation as to why nothing is
\nbeing done to put a halt to the illegal sand quarrying.<\/p>\n
\"We closed the sand quarrying site six times between 2002 and
\nthis year. We have put up a gate at the entrance but illegal sand
\nquarrying continues at the same pace. We are powerless against
\nthe hundreds, or even thousands, of illegal sand quarriers. It
\nall depends on the land owner. In fact, he has said or done
\nnothing about this matter.\"<\/p>\n
The head of the administration's subsection in Caringin
\ndistrict, Rochmadin AR, agreed with Mudrajadjat.<\/p>\n
\"This plot of land used to be communal land owned by 45
\npeople. In 1998 it was sold to Bakti Hendra. A land certificate
\nunder his name was issued in 2001. The owner applied to the
\nregency administration for permission to turn this area into a
\nquarry. The regency administration has yet to respond to this
\napplication,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The mining office of the Bogor regency administration is firm
\nin its stance that it will not allow the area to be turned into a
\nlegal quarry, though it has already become an illegal one.<\/p>\n
However, the Bogor regency administration has yet to find a
\nway to address the problem of environmental damage in the area.
\nInstead, it is busy blaming others.<\/p>",
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