Digging of steep slopes spells disaster for many

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.