A recurring disaster

A recurring disaster

Floods and landslides are no new phenomena to many areas of
Java, especially along the island's northern and southern coasts.
In the area around Brebes near the West Java border and along the
Jepara shoreline toward the east, for example, the inhabitants
are so used to floods that they take such calamities as a mere
fact of life.

In the past few years, however, floods have been occurring not
only with increased frequency, they have also affected wider
areas, and as a consequence, the damage has also increased.

The most recent disaster hit the regencies of Purworejo,
Purbalingga and Kebumen in the southern parts of Central Java
over the weekend, where officials have reported finding at least
21 bodies, and an undisclosed number of people were still missing
as of yesterday. In one village, six villagers were buried alive
in a landslide. The worst damage was reported from the village of
Delanggu in the Purworejo area, where landslides were reported to
have damaged crops, buried 10 houses and damaged scores of
others. The number of human casualties is as yet unknown.

To ensure that relief in the form of money, food, medicines,
clothing and other items reaches those who need them is of course
the first task for the local authorities to accomplish at this
point. It is no secret that all too often such aid, provided by
the government as well as well-meaning individuals and civic
organizations, is misused.

Though it is important to ensure that the relief reaches the
victims, it is only one part of a wider set of problems that need
attention of both the government and the public. The increasing
frequency of flooding and landslides in areas that before seldom
suffered from such calamities is an indication that something is
wrong, and it is not difficult to guess what the main problem is.

For many years or even decades, illegal logging is known to
have been occurring on an increasing scale in many areas of
Indonesia, including Java. Newspaper reports and television
footage have made it clear that illegal logging is currently
going on at an alarming rate not only in Java but on other
islands as well.

Those whom forest wardens have so far managed to catch are
mostly local people living in the area, who are driven by poverty
to plunder the forests of teak, mahogany and other marketable
woods. They, however, are but a part of a network that includes
the fences and buyers who provide the looters with a ready
market.

The consequences of deforestation have been emphasized many
times, and the point must by now surely be well understood by
Java's rural population. But as long as the people are hungry and
there is a profitable market for stolen timber, the theft of
timber will no doubt continue.

A general program of poverty alleviation seems to provide the
ideal ultimate answer to this problem. But given the long-term
nature of such a program, a more pragmatic solution must be
found. Obviously, the authorities cannot just catch everyone
found illegally felling timber and put them in jail. The
government does not have the manpower to take such drastic
action. Ways, though, could surely be found to provide villagers
with alternative sources of income so that they do not have to
resort to illegal logging. Mixed farming is one method that could
be worth trying.

Whatever steps are taken, it is important that every member of
society -- rural or urban -- is made aware of the fact that with
every little act of denudation, the land will grow poorer and
less able to sustain life. The ones who will suffer, if not
ourselves, will be our children and grandchildren.