Alternative site possible for C. Java cement project

JAKARTA (JP): The government has proposed an alternative site for a cement plant to be built by PT Eraska Semen Indonesia in Central Java if a study proves the present site does not meet feasibility demands.

Minister of Forestry Djamaludin Suryohadikusumo told reporters yesterday that the site proposed by Eraska Semen in Juwengan district in Boyolali regency may have to be changed to a location 30 kilometers north of the present site in a district called Sukolilo.

He said that he has not yet received an official report from the expert team which is responsible for the feasibility study.

"If the study says that the location is not suitable for the plant, due to a lack of water sources or unfavorable social conditions, an alternative site must be chosen," he said.

He said that a number of people living in the area were previously relocated from Kedungombo, a village flooded to make way for a huge irrigation dam.

Eraska Semen recently obtained the necessary license from the Investment Coordinating Board to build a cement plant with an annual production capacity of 700,000 tons. The plant is expected to start commercial production in 1997.

Djamaludin has stipulated, however, that a feasibility study must be made to avoid negative impacts on the surrounding villages and the proposed site, which currently serves as a water catchment area.

Alternative

He stressed that any alternative site would have to be on scarcely populated infertile land.

"The investors must be willing to buy the land at a reasonable price and build the necessary infrastructure at the location. The plant must not be built at the expense of the environment and the local people for the company's own benefit," he said.

Djamaludin said, however, that "in principle" he did not reject the plan. "I am just seeking alternatives."

Eraska Semen had threatened to quit the project if the government refused to issue approval to clear a teak forest to make way for the plant. In exchange for the cleared area, Eraska Semen offered the ministry a 1,200-hectare plot of land.

Djamaludin turned down the offer, saying that under existing government regulations the substitute land must be at least three times the size of the displaced forest.

He said that approval for the use of forested areas in Java for infrastructure and public facilities must be given by the President.

The substitute plot must be twice the size of the original area for military and state industrial projects and three times the size for other purposes.

Forests currently cover only 19 percent of Java, far below the 30 percent which is considered a healthy level. (pwn)