Beautiful Thousand Islands have a thousand complex problems

Beautiful Thousand Islands have a thousand complex problems

By M. Habiburrohman

JAKARTA (Antara): The string of 108 Indonesian islands known
as the Thousand Islands, located just off the Jakarta shore, has
long associated with various problems. This is commonly expressed
in the phrase "Thousand Islands with a thousand problems."

The problems are intertwined and extremely complex, said Otto
Ongkosono from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences oceanography
research and development center. These include ecosystem
degradation and the threat of extinction of a number of species.
Moreover, there are also local problems such as inefficient
economic practices in the community.

The Thousand Islands, an area of 69,976 square kilometers (of
which 9,214 are land), are only located 75 kilometers offshore.
The accessibility of the islands is abused by government
officials and Jakartans for their own benefit through profit-
making schemes such as land investment or entertainment and
leisure developments which result in the degradation of the
environment, local life-styles, and other potential resources.

This practice of abuse by "outsiders" has been going on since
before Indonesia's declaration of independence, and especially
since the Dutch arrival in Sunda Kelapa harbor in the 17th
century. This could be seen for example when in the 19th century
the island of Onrust was turned in to a massive fort.

Otto also said that a number of islands such as Ubi Kecil, Ubi
Besar and Air Kecil have perished due to the extractive
activities carried out there for materials for the construction
of the Prof. Dr. Sediatmo tollway and the Soekarno-Hatta airport
toll road in Jakarta.

Other islands such as Damar Kecil, Nyamuk Besar, Kelor,
Onrust, and Cipir have all been severely eroded. Nyamuk Kecil is
even on the verge of total disappearance.

Environmental degradation persists due to the human activities
of the local community, particularly since the government has
encouraged fish farming. The mangrove reservation on West Lancang
island was turned into a large scale fish farm. As a result the
reservation is now threatened with extinction, which will be
followed by the local extinction of various animals in the
habitat such as primates, snakes, lizards, and birds.

Physical degradation is worsened due to the activities of
fishermen who use trawl nets and dynamite to catch fish.

"We have often caught them red-handed in such practices, yet
there is no firm action taken by the authorities," said
Syafruddin Masru, a fisherman from Kelapa island and head of the
fishermen's group Mayang. He alleged that military personnel are
involved in these practices of illegal fishing.

Environmental degradation is further worsened due to
increasing pollution as a result of human activities.

Residues of fuels from ships for example consistently appear.
The most alarming form of environmental pollution is the increase
of heavy-metal particles in ecosystems , such as Mercury (Hg),
Cadmium (Cd), Zinc (Zn), Magnesium (Mg), Cobalt (Co), and iron
(Fe).

Garbage is also a critical problem. This waste comes from
local human activities, river outflows from Jakarta, and the
tourist industry in the area.

Usman, 73, from Kelapa island, complained that resort owners
often simply ignore the problem. Yet most of the waste is from
them and their guests.

Ownership

Another problem is ownership of the islands. At least 28
islands are privately owned, 34 are owned by companies, and only
11 islands are settled by locals.

The private owners often ignore conservation of the coral
reefs. Coral reef excavations (some corals excavated were still
alive) have been carried out for the foundations of onshore
constructions. This obviously ruins the existing balance in the
ecosystem. Some private owners even carry out aggressive work
such as land reclamation to extend an island's coast-line as in
the case of Air island, or the building of a landing airstrip as
on Panjang island, and even the construction of a golf course as
on Bira Besar island.

A lighter form of damage arises where company=owned islands
maintain their water management although the existing ecosystem
has been completely altered.

In economic terms, the ownership of islands does not improve
the well-being of the locals.

"Since the sales of islands during the 1980s, we have only
been able to fish in certain areas," Masru said.

He said fishermen are not allowed to fish in private or
company owned areas. "Security men, who are paid to keep their
area safe, will catch us and even punish us if we are apprehended
fishing in their vicinity," he added.

The resorts in the area do not use the local human resources
available.

A non-governmental organization, Sekretariat Bina Desa
(Village Development Secretariat), which conducted an education
program on Kelapa Island recently, found that 80 percent of the
resort employees were not local people.

"We only get to do cleaning jobs," said Machmud, 63, who once
worked for two years on Puteri island.

The ownership of islands also restricts living areas for the
local community whose population keeps on growing. For example
the less-than-1 square kilometer Kelapa island is occupied by
7,000 people. Now the island looks like other slums in Jakarta.

The increasing population density on the islands which are
occupied by locals has led to the decrease in the quality of
their lives. More problems come up due to poor sanitation.

"It is ironic that the locals do not have enough living space,
whereas those who are not from here own whole islands for
themselves," said Masru.

Meanwhile, John from Sekretariat Bina Desa believes the answer
to all the problems lies in managing the human resources of the
local community.

This scheme, according to him, would improve the access of the
locals to their natural resources. The scheme would be supported
by an organization coordinating protection and conservation of
the Thousand Islands environment.

The utilization of the local human resources in the long run
would stimulate locals' creativity to improve their own well-
being, and thus their economic independence, as has been
demonstrated by the fishermen's group Mayang on Kelapa island.

Currently, the group is developing an alternative rumpon
(reef) from styrofoam as a substitute for coconut leaves if
supplies decrease. They are anticipating the decrease in coconut
leaves due to the increasing usage of the leaves by the growing
Thousand islands population.

Nevertheless, the utilization of local human resources
requires assistance from other institutions as motivators and
facilitators. Now only a single consortium is handling the
management. The Consortium to Conserve the Thousand Islands
consists of Sekretariat Bina Desa, Bogor FDP Diving Club,
Pengabdian University, Green Indonesia Club, the Mayang
fishermen's group, and Jelajah magazine.

From another perspective Otto stated the need to improve
environmental laws and their implementation.

Aside from that, a proper functional usage of the land in the
islands will control and head off the increasing threat of
environmental degradation and pollution.

Land which is properly utilized for conservation,
construction, and preservation areas, according to Otto, would
contribute to improving the quality of the environment.