Expert wants environment atop development agenda

By Joko Sarwono

BOGOR, West Java (JP): "Get rich dirty, clean up later" was a development paradigm once employed by the United States, some European countries and Japan.

Although no longer applicable for those nations, Indonesia unfortunately still uses it, an environmental expert says.

Rokhmin Dahuri of the Bogor Institute of Agriculture said declining capacity of the global environment to cushion development impacts, and increasingly complicated environmental problems were two reasons the paradigm should be discarded.

"Once the environment is damaged, we can't be sure it can be restored to its previous state," said Rokhmin, 40, who obtained his doctorate in coastal zone ecology and management from Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, Canada, in 1991.

He is one of only five Indonesians with a doctorate in the field.

Rokhmin said economic growth received greater attention than environmental preservation in many regions in the country, ultimately leading to unsustainable development programs.

Several coastal regions have suffered because of this skewed approach, he said, listing pollution, overfishing through environmentally damaging methods and coral reef damage in those areas.

Rokhmin citing a shrimp farm development project, covering an area up to 700,000 hectares, on the northern coast of Java. It fared well from 1982 to 1992, but finally collapsed because of degradation in water quality from industrial waste. The shrimp industry formerly earned the nation about Rp 10 trillion annually.

Rokhmin is now director of the Center for Coastal and Marine Resource Studies at the Bogor Institute of Agriculture. He is also head of the master's program for the Management of Coastal and Marine Resources, and teaches at several other universities. In 1995, he became one of Indonesia's Model Lecturers.

He spoke with The Jakarta Post recently about how development activities have wreaked environmental damage in coastal areas.

Question: What causes the most damage to our coasts?

Answer: The development model prepared in a divided, sectoral way. The planners, both the government and the private sector, still view renewable biological resources and the environment as less valuable than mining or the manufacturing industries, which yield short-term financial rewards.

Other causes include population density. Some 60 percent of the Indonesian population (202 million) lives in coastal areas. Poverty forces them to cut down mangroves, mine the rocks, fish with explosives... all because there's no alternative sources of income, and just to subsist.

Q: But we cannot avoid industrialization. How best to go about it?

A: So far industrialization has been centered on the northern coast of Java, which is understandable because the sloping of the land allows easy construction of infrastructure.

But the coast has calm waves which slow down degradation of waste. This is the problem. If industrialization is to be maintained in Java, it must be directed to the southern coast ... (it must) definitely be accompanied by various regulations.

The southern coasts of Java have high-energy waves. The waste dumped there can be directly aerated (mixed by the waves so that degradation occurs quicker). Granted, the land is mountainous, so it would be difficult to build infrastructure there. This makes investment costly. But if we care about sustainable development, this option is more profitable.

Q: Is it ideal to have industrialization centered in Java?

A: No. (Industrialization) outside of Java would be the ideal choice. As we know, 70 percent of funds currently circulate in the greater Jakarta area. It is (proof) of an unbalanced development pattern. Development should be spread to areas outside of Java, while the southern coasts of Java should be developed for marine tourism.

Q: Which coasts have been damaged?

A: Generally speaking, coastal damage occurs at locations with high-level industrialization and high-density population. The coasts of Jakarta and Surabaya are heavily damaged. The coasts of Medan (North Sumatra), Cirebon (West Java), Semarang (Central Java) and Ujungpandang (South Sulawesi) fall in the middle category.

There are indications of pollution, too, in the Malacca Strait, Banten Bay (West Java), Bontang (East Kalimantan) and other new industrial areas.

Q: What about Jakarta's coasts?

A: In 1993 and 1994 I conducted a survey at Tanjung Priok port. Even then its water was very murky. The port authority was pessimistic that the water could be cleaned.

But ports can be restored. I visited the Boston harbor in 1986, and it was very dirty then. There was no fishing, let alone tourist activities. However, its conditions have improved since 1990. Fishery and tourism are on the increase. Property values have also increased.

Q: How do you go about restoring damaged coasts?

A: In 1987, the community, the government, academic circles and research institutes together started cleaning the harbor. It was similar to our Clean River project, but things were handled more seriously and with greater commitment of funds and human resources for that. Thus, if there is a will, a damaged coast can be restored through technical, social and institutional programs.

Q: How would you do it in Indonesia?

A: First, reduce and, if necessary, stop waste. We must have waste treatment (plants) with an environmentally friendly processing technology -- that is, with fewer raw materials and producing less waste. At the same time, there should be restoration of the environment, for example by creating rapids in rivers in order to produce aeration.

Second, dredge the coasts, dig out waste sediment and dispose it in an ecologically safe place.

There should also be public education on the environment, accompanied by efforts to improve income.

Q: If environmental education fails and the development course remains as it is, how much loss will Indonesia face in the future?

A: In 1995-1996, I assisted a study conducted by a team from the Asian Development Bank and the office of State Minister of the Environment. The findings: if the process of coastal and marine damage continues, then we will suffer an annual loss of US$56 billion by 2020.

On the other hand, if we are willing to invest $2.6 billion (for environmental education purposes and other matters) the environment will be saved.

Some people are already concerned about the environment. The Indonesian Environmental Forum, Walhi, and other non-governmental organizations are working to preserve the environment. But this growing concern has been hampered by the economic and political climate. When a Walhi activist or an environmental expert expresses an opinion which goes against the mainstream of development, their opinion is ignored.

It is now time to be more open to constructive input and the calls for improvement.