Digging of steep slopes spells disaster for many

By Putu Wirata

DENPASAR (JP): This year has seen two big landslides on the island of Bali which claimed many lives. In January, 40 farmers who were repairing irrigation canals in Timbul hamlet, Apuan village, Tegalalang district, were buried when a landslide hit Jelijih hill. Two weeks ago, a large landslide in the village of Taro, also in Tegalalang district, killed five people who were quarrying rocks, which are used as building materials.

After January's disaster, Gianyar regent Tjokorda Gde Budi Suryawan warned the people to temporarily digging on steep slopes because heavy rains during the month had eroded hills across the island. And the situation in villages in the Tegalalang district, which has many ravines, is very critical.

However, amid the economic crisis many people do not think of their personal safety if there is an opportunity to earn money. The Jakarta Post observed that rock quarrying occurs from Campuhan village to Lodtunduh village in the Ubud district, which is crisscrossed with deep ravines. In gorges more than 50 meters deep, at least a dozen people cut rocks to make bricks. These bricks are sold to carvers and sculptors and they also serve as building materials.

"I have been quarrying for more than five years. I am lucky it has been safe for me. My friends and I make daily offerings asking God for safety before we start digging," said a worker at Campuhan Ubud village.

"I heard the news of the landslide at Timbul village. I was frightened, but life is in God's hands," he said.

The topography of Ubud, Payangan and Kintamani is full of ravines and gorges which should be protected and preserved, but, ironically, attract investors looking to profit from the natural resources of the area. Many of the investors build houses for expatriates on the slopes of the hills which face the river or rice fields. The topography is also a natural commodity sold by restaurants and hotels around Ubud, Payangan and Kintamani.

The steep ravines around Sanggingan and also Campuhan Ubud -- where museums, galleries, restaurants, hotels and villas abound -- are also quarried by rock diggers who have been exploiting the natural resources for years.

The buildings which form a line along the western slope of Banjar Sanggingan and Campuhan Ubud seem to teeter atop these steep slopes which could collapse at any moment in landslides much like the one which hit Timbul.

However, people continue to build on these slopes because the view from Campuhan to Sanggingan, Ubud is sublime. Apart from deep ravines with grassy slopes, a giant hill looms like a sleeping animal. Even Gunung Agung, in the eastern most part of Bali, is visible on a cloudless day. It was in Campuhan Hotel, high above a deep ravine in the area, that the King of Ubud gave Walter Spies a place to stay in the 1930s.

Sanggingan village

People have been building houses and hotels atop ravines and steep slopes for years. Hotel Campuhan was built in the 1930s under the rule of Tjokorda Gde Agung Sukawati. Perhaps there was no law to limit the use of ravines at the time. The trend continued after Indonesia's independence.

Environmental law actually forbids building on ravines with a certain declivity. But which official was up to upholding the law during the New Order regime? The result is frightening. Beautiful, terraced rice fields at Sayan, Kedewatan and Payangan and Ubud have become overrun with structures.

"I like to sit and drink here. A steep hill is visible across from me. Sometimes I can also see Gunung Agung," said Rossy, an Irish woman who works as a consultant for a museum in Ubud.

Take for example the Tjahaya Dewata, Kupu-kupu Barong, Wulandari (under construction) and the Four Seasons Sayan hotels. They have been built on slopes facing Tukad Ayung, which are surrounded by terraced rice fields of unsurpassed beauty. The billion rupiah hotels have foundations of reinforced concrete to ward off earthquakes or erosion of the steep slopes.

"The declivity of the land is steep here. But the hotel has been designed by an expert who also takes the possibility of erosion into account. With an investment of billions of rupiah in the hotels we will reckon with erosion," said a member of the company which is building Hotel Wulandari.

However, Bali environmental observer Nyoman Gelebet questions the Gianyar regional administration's policy of issuing permits to construct hotels on slopes which should be protected.

"Because investors are eager to build on ravines which should be left untouched and protected, and officials approve the projects, it remains to nature to teach people a lesson. Criticism by environmental activists is considered a mere passing wind," he said.

So far there have been no reports of hotels or restaurants built on the edges of ravines collapsing because of soil erosion in the Ubud region. Let's just hope such a disaster never occurs.