Forest firm being blamed for West Java landslides

Forest firm being blamed for West Java landslides

Yuli Tri Suwarni and Agus Maryono, The Jakarta Post, Bandung/Cilacap

State-owned forestry company PT Perhutani has increasingly come
under fire for its failure to stop the rampant deforestation
blamed for last week's deadly landslides that killed more than 30
people in West Java.

West Java Governor R. Nuriana has officially reprimanded the
Perhutani office responsible for the management of forests in the
province, including the forest on Mount Mandalawangi, from which
mud and rocks came down to bury dozens of houses in Kedungora
subdistrict, Garut regency, on Jan. 28, leaving at least 21
people dead.

Three days later, another 10 villagers died when a landslide
swept over their homes in the adjacent regency of Kuningan.

"Since before the implementation of regional autonomy, the
central government, through Perhutani, has been the sole manager
of forests in West Java, which have been damaged," he said.

Perhutani, which is in charge of almost half of West Java's
forests, has yet to respond to the criticism.

However, a spokesman for the company, Dachlan Sudrajat,
shifted the blame to locals who looted the forests and converted
them into farmland.

"Several times we demanded firm action against the forest
settlers, but the legal authorities did nothing," he said.

Aside from the governor's criticism of Perhutani, the forestry
firm is also facing a class-action suit from an alliance of non-
governmental organizations.

The head of the West Java forestry office, Edi Supriadi,
accused the state-owned forestry company of failing to maintain
the ecological balance in the province.

"It (Perhutani) should not just want to make a profit by
selling logs from the forests, but should also manage the forests
properly along with locals. It should not allow the forests to be
looted and in the end blame villagers for deforestation," he
said.

Edi acknowledged that land conversion and illegal logging were
difficult to stop because of population growth and widespread
poverty.

Experts have warned that West Java remains prone to flooding
and landslides because of its unstable soil and massive
deforestation from illegal logging.

According to these experts, the main areas of deforestation in
the province are Garut, Tasikmalaya, Bandung, Bogor, Puncak and
Cianjur.

West Java is the country's most vulnerable province to
landslides, according to the Bandung-based Directorate General
for Geology and the Mitigation of Natural Disasters.

According to data from the agency, more than 500 landslides
have occurred in Indonesia over the last 10 years, 70 percent of
them in West Java, which is home to about three million people.

The local forestry office said that in 20 years the amount of
forests in West Java and the adjacent province of Banten had
fallen from 1,774,186 hectares to 1,000,743 hectares, due to the
continued development of industrial areas and housing
settlements.

About 260,937 hectares of forests are conserved areas and
another 240,402 hectares are protected, while the remaining
500,000 hectares are located in Perhutani's limited production
area, which spreads along the Citanduy, Cimanuk, Citarum,
Ciliwung and Cisadane rivers.

Apart from the forests, another 1,325,525 hectares of land in
West Java should have been conserved as water catchment areas.

However, much of this land has been converted for use as
farms, plantations, resettlement areas and for other functions.

In another disaster, a landslide swept through a hot springs
resort in Pacet, Mojokerto, East Java, last month killing at
least 32 people. That disaster has been blamed on deforestation
in the area.

The state minister for the environment warned recently that
the forests in Java would disappear by 2005 unless logging was
halted.

Meanwhile, about 10,000 people fled their homes in Cilacap
regency, Central Java, as flooding extended to 26 villages in
Wanareja subdistrict on Monday.

One person has reportedly died at a shelter since flooding
struck the regency on Thursday. Many others are suffering from
skin irritations, diarrhea and fever.

Hundreds of people living in makeshift shelters, mosques and
school buildings face the possibility of disease from unclean
water and food.