Welfare of people in new regency of Thousand Islands should come first<\/p>\n
Benget Simbolon Tnb., The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The Jakarta city administration inaugurated Kepulauan Seribu
\n(Thousand Islands) off the North Jakarta coast as a new regency
\nin November, but many problems have still been left unsolved.<\/p>\n
The 69,976-square-kilometer mini archipelago has great
\npotential in terms of tourism and marine-based industries. But
\nits basic infrastructure is very poor.<\/p>\n
Most residents of the 110 islands only enjoy electricity for
\n12 hours a day, often less or none at all depending on the
\nparticular island. And recently, for about three weeks, the
\nislands were hit by a total blackout due to technical problems
\nwith the electric supply.<\/p>\n
The islands are heavily dependent on sea transportation. But
\nthe new regency does not yet have anything resembling a reliable
\ntransportation system. As a result, residents cannot easily and
\ncomfortably travel to Jakarta or to other islands in the area
\nunless they own a reliable seagoing vessel.<\/p>\n
In terms of public facilities, the new regency, which is home
\nto about 17,000 residents, has only one Puskesmas or public
\nhealth center, four elementary schools, one junior high school
\nand one high school. As a regency it should have more public
\nfacilities.<\/p>\n
Residents in the area often find it very difficult to readily
\naccess clean water and are usually required to gather rainwater
\nby crude catchment systems built around their homes.<\/p>\n
The new regency is also facing serious environmental problems.
\nThe most striking of which is the shrinkage or in many cases
\ncomplete submersion of many islets due to the destruction of
\ntheir protective coral reefs. It is estimated that some 70
\npercent of the islands are surrounded by reef. Other threats are
\nabrasion and over-exploitation of sand.<\/p>\n
Several islands, including Umbi Besar, Umbi Kecil, Air Kecil,
\nAir Sedang, Nyamuk Besar, Dapur, Van der Smith and Jong, have
\nbeen sinking due to serious abrasion and environmental
\ndestruction.<\/p>\n
A number of islands have been literally shrinking into
\noblivion. One, the historically valuable Onrust island home to an
\nold Dutch fortress, was reported to have shrunken from 12
\nhectares to nine in recent years.<\/p>\n
At present there are 110 islands left in the group. If the
\nadministration does not pay serious attention to this
\nenvironmental degradation then more islands will disappear in the
\nfuture.<\/p>\n
The damage to the coral reefs is caused by the practices
\nemployed by certain fishermen in which explosives are used to the
\nblow up the reef, and kill as many fish as possible to sell at
\nthe market place. In the process they kill thousands of other
\nliving organisms as well as the reef itself. Another reef killer
\nis unregulated poaching of the aesthetically pleasing coral which
\nis also sold. Rampant illegal mining of sand and global warming
\nare also factors in island destruction.<\/p>\n
Environmental problems on the islands may worsen if the
\ngovernment does not take the necessary steps to deal with them.
\nTrash problems, for example, which are still an unresolved
\ndilemma there, may worsen in the near future. People inside and
\noutside of the islands should not be allowed to simply throw
\ntheir trash -- especially toxins and plastics -- into the sea
\nbecause it will destroy all of the sea life that remains
\neventually.<\/p>\n
The private ownership of some of the islands has also
\ncontributed to some basic social problems in the island group.
\nSome 44 of the 110 islands are privately owned by wealthy
\nindividuals, including Probosutedjo, the half-brother of former
\npresident Soeharto and several of Soeharto's children -- Bambang
\nTrihatmodjo and Siti Hardiyanti \"Tutut\" Rukmana -- Ponco Sutowo,
\nTommy Winata, Ciputra and Surya Paloh.<\/p>\n
Most of the islands have been developed into holiday resorts,
\nbut only for the benefit of the owners and not for the interest
\nof the general public, particularly the locals.<\/p>\n
The owners reportedly use the islands at their will and manage
\nthem as if there are no other residents in the area. Worse still,
\nsome of them have treated the local residents like criminals.
\nWhenever the local residents have to land on one of the private
\nislands -- for example when their boats develop engine trouble --
\nthe owners have often shot firearms at the wayward boaters to
\nscare them off.<\/p>\n
The City Administration has been called on by many groups to
\nrecover its authority over the islands and to utilize them for
\nthe benefit of the general public, particularly the residents of
\nthe islands.<\/p>\n
The islands' 17,891 residents are mostly impoverished
\nelementary school graduates who earn their living as fishermen.
\nIf the authorities do not pay special attention to their
\nconditions then they will remain marginalized when, or shall we
\nsay if, the city launches an improvement program there.<\/p>\n
Indeed there are so many serious problems facing the new
\nregency, and yet there has been no indication whether the
\ngovernment will address them quickly and thoroughly.<\/p>\n
The national policy on regional autonomy has apparently played
\nan important role in encouraging the city administration to claim
\nand make the islands a new regency in addition to its current
\nmayoralties: Central, East, West, South and North Jakarta.<\/p>\n
But actually, such an autonomous spirit should also encourage
\nit to reform a number of regulations or create new ones to spur
\nthe development of the regency so that it can, at least, emulate
\nthe other five mayoralties. And in doing so, the welfare of the
\nlocal people must come first.<\/p>",
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