Earth Day celebrations marred by cancelations

JAKARTA (JP): A public dialog on environmental hazards and an antinuclear art exhibition planned in conjunction with an event to celebrate Earth Day were canceled by authorities at the last minute yesterday.

The activities were scheduled to be part of an event organized by the Indonesian Forum for Environment (Walhi) at the Bulungan Youth Center, South Jakarta.

Walhi activist Muhammad Anung, who is also a member of the Indonesian Antinuclear Society, said the authorities had said Walhi did not have a permit to hold the two activities.

"We told them that it (permit) was on the way from National Police Headquarters. But they didn't listen. They know that Amien (Rais) comes (to Walhi events) time and again and that a permit is never needed," Anung said. Walhi applied for the permit three weeks ago, he added.

Other planned activities were, however, allowed to go forward. These included the cutting of a traditional rice cone and a demonstration on paper recycling.

A speech by Amien Rais, chairman of the 28 million-strong Moslem Muhammadiyah organization, also went undisrupted despite his usual vocal remarks.

The event was held along with other various "earth purification" (Ruwatan Bumi) activities in several cities throughout the country to raise public awareness of the environment and encourage creativity in response to the economic crisis.

Amien focused on many disastrous political consequences facing the country's environment.

"The three concerns of every developing country, including ours, are increasing poverty, unemployment and the deteriorating quality of the environment," Amien said.

He added that the relationship shared between modern people and the environment "is not of mutual respect and fondness ... but of an indifferent man dealing with a prostitute. There is no dignity."

Even today, he said, authorities were stopping them from having an open talk on how to make people more aware of the nation's hazards.

"One day, all of this will change," Amien told an audience of 200 people, including students of top high schools located near the youth center.

Walhi executive director Emmy Hafild cited that the worst hazards facing the country included air pollution.

"Studies released in 1994 reveal that the mortality rate of children under five due to air pollution reached 14.4 percent in Jakarta, which is 6 percent of Indonesia. It is the nation's second environmental hazard killer."

The paper recycling demonstration drew much interest from the students, as did a demonstration showing how earthworms were used to make fertilizer from organic waste. Many visitors bought recycled paper and even the fertilizer for Rp 1,500 per kilogram.

The Earth Day celebration also featured the cutting of inverted rice cones.

Wahyu, a Walhi helper, said the cutting of the triangular rice cone carried significant meaning for Javanese people.

"The top signifies the peak... God. This time, however, the top signifies the executive level. One side of the bottom signifies the legislative, while the other signifies the people," Wahyu said.

"Rice cones are inverted to signify that the nation's people should be on top and not otherwise." (ylt)