Environment minister slams Aceh forest road project

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

State Minister of the Environment Nabiel Makarim criticized on Wednesday the Ladia Galaska road project, planned to cut through the southern portions of Aceh, saying that it was not feasible and would endanger both the environment and the communities in the province.

The 500-kilometer road linking the west and east coasts of the war-torn province would slash its way through the Leuser ecosystem, the only virgin forest left on Sumatra.

"The Ladia Galaska project will not achieve its stated purpose of opening up isolated rural areas since it has not been built through areas with adequate population density as can be seen from the demographic data," Nabiel argued.

The minister warned that the road would also open up access for illegal loggers who would change the pristine Leuser conservation forest into an "illegal logging hypermarket".

At least 187 people were killed and 87 missing when a massive flash flood, blamed on illegal logging, swept through Bahorok district, North Sumatra last year.

Nabiel warned that Indonesia risked losing financial assistance from the European Union, which had committed 31 million euro for the Leuser conservation project.

According to the European Union, the project alone would destroy at least 2.6 million hectares of conservation area in the Leuser ecosystem and cause the loss of 30 percent of the species existing in the area.

The Leuser ecosystem is home to 6,000 orangutans, 4,000 elephants, 200 tigers and 50 Sumatran rhinos.

Nabiel asserted that there had been no feasibility study done for the Ladia Galaska road project, which would cut through steep and unstable hills.

Data from the Ministry of the Environment showed that about 39 percent of the land in which the project would cut through was unstable and prone to landslides.

On the economic side, he said, the road project would slow down the economic cycle in Banda Aceh because the planned road could cause a concentration of business activity in nearby Medan in North Sumatra, with better port facilities.

Nabiel feared that the planned road, which entirely bypasses Banda Aceh, would isolate the provincial capital and reduce economic activity there.

"We cannot maintain the economic life of some areas by isolating other areas," Nabiel said.

The minister also dismissed accusations by proponents of the project that his ministry and the ministry of forestry were merely trying to hamper economic development in Aceh.

The two ministries have openly opposed the controversial project.

The two ministries have also proposed an alternative route by developing existing roads from Meulaboh to Banda Aceh and from Takengon to Bereun into proper highways.

According to Nabiel, the alternative plan would be more technically feasible since the land was stable. It would also be far less costly since there were already roads in place.

"They just need to upgrade the roads into highways," he said.

Nabiel said the real issue was not the purpose of the project but how much it would significantly affect the life of Acehnese people, and whether it was the best way to solve economic problems in the province.

He questioned why the proponents of the project refused to consider alternatives to improve the situation of Aceh people without irreversibly destroying one of the world's most valuable rainforests -- the Leuser National Park.