Cleaning up Code River for ecotourism

Cleaning up Code River for ecotourism

Ridlo Aryanto,The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta

Riding the rough currents of a river that meanders over
mountains and through forests has become common for the more
adventurous among us, but rafting along a river that runs through
the middle of a city is quite a different and unique experience.

At least, Yogyakarta Governor Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono X
hopes tourists to the province, one of Java's cultural centers,
will think so.

"The regional administration is currently working on a
redesign concept to beautify the Code River," provincial
secretary Bambang Susanto Priyohadi said.

Bambang was speaking during a workshop sponsored by the
administration to discuss the prospects for ecotourism on the
Code River.

The first challenge to opening up the river to ecotourists
will be figuring out what to do about the thousands of houses
crowding the banks of the Code -- from Gondolayu bridge to
Keparakan Kidul subdistrict. And the most difficult challenge may
be cleaning up the water of the river.

A water quality survey conducted in 1993 by a Gadjah Mada
University researcher showed the Code River contained E. coli, a
bacteria that causes diarrhea. The water of the river was also
over the tolerable limit for a number of other pollutants, which
is sure to deter tourists from splashing around in the river.

"There is a need to change the social behavior of the local
community living along the riverbank, encourage them to take care
of their environment and to stop using the river as a gigantic
public toilet," said Toni Artyanto Daroko, a researcher at the
university's Institute for Environment Management Control.

He said the cost of cleaning up the river for ecotourism could
be covered if some of the remaining amount of the regional
administration's 2001 budget, about Rp 155 billion, was used for
the plan.

According to Bambang, the governor's idea is to allow tourists
to enjoy the city's scenery while cruising along the river.

A special 7.5-kilometer section of the river would be turned
into a tourist zone, stretching from the southern part of the
ring road (north of Yogyakarta), passing under Sardjito bridge
and Gondolayu bridge (in the city center), and then through
areas of the city known for their unique architectural styles, he
said.

The division of the river and the surrounding land into
different zones, as proposed by the dean of Gadjah Mada
University's School of Geography, Sudarmadji, would help ensure
the river was not exploited beyond its capacity to support
activity.

"We don't want the plan to redesign the river to disrupt the
stream flowing down from Mount Merapi, which would harm the
people who depend on the river for their lives. The northern zone
can be used for rafting and fishing, the middle part for jogging
tracks and the zone closer to the city center as handicraft
villages. This way, we can distribute the environmental burden,"
said Sudarmadji.

He added, however, that the river's present water debit of 600
m3 per second in the dry season meant the river had to be dredged
to allow rafting and boating.

Sudarmadji, whose doctorate dissertation dealt with the
environmental management of the Code River, said that the river,
before there was so much development along its banks, had more
than 10 natural springs, apart from the stream coming from Mt.
Merapi, providing an endless supply of water.

But construction by the armed forces in 1985, who were
deployed to villages to help with rural development, reduced the
width of the river from 50 meters to 12 meters. As a result,
parts of Yogyakarta are regularly flooded during the rainy season
because there is no longer anywhere for the water to go.

"The plan to reshape the Code River should not worsen the
environment. Moreover, the flow of the Code River has a great
impact on Yogyakarta's environment," Sudarmadji said.

The chairman of the Code Community Forum, Totok Pratopo,
welcomed the plan "as long as no people living along the
riverbank are evicted".

He added that some of the traditions of the Code residents,
like the Mauludan and Saparan religious rituals, could attract
tourists.

"We're ready to assure the cleanliness of the river and its
surrounding environment," Totok said.

For the last five years, he said, residents living near the
Code River who flushed their toilets into the river or built
toilets over the river, had been required to demolish the toilets
and built new public toilets, that could be managed by the whole
community.

New houses along the river are also required to be built
facing the river, so their toilets will not be flushed into the
river, he added.

With this new plan for the river, more work to clean up the
Code and its water, as well as dredging the river to allow for
rafting, will have to be done.