German legislators urge halt to Leuser road plan
German legislators urge halt to Leuser road plan
Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
A delegation of German parliamentarians urged Indonesia to cancel a road construction project which would cut through the Leuser National Park in North Sumatra.
"The Leuser National Park must be saved due to the benefit it brings as lungs for the world and the economic benefits it provides to the local people," said German parliament member Christian Ruck during a meeting with State Minister for the Environment Nabiel Makarim and non-governmental organizations.
The five-member delegation recently visited the Leuser park in North Sumatra, and Ruck said they had concluded that the road project would damage the park.
Germany is one of Indonesia's major creditor countries with a keen interest in tying debt repayments to efforts to protect the environment. In March, Germany approved a US$15 million debt-for- nature swap to be used for water-related projects.
Environmentalists have warned that the construction of the Ladia Galaska road through the Leuser Park would increase the access of illegal loggers to protected forest areas.
Ruck reiterated the concerns about widespread illegal logging, which would harm the park's bio-diversity.
He added that the German parliament would fully support all sides that sought to save the Leuser park.
"Ecotourism and selling carbon dioxide consumption quotas are two potential income sources from the (Leuser) national park," said another German parliament member, Christa Reichard.
Minister Nabiel hailed the German parliament's support, but conceded the government was still divided over the issue.
President Megawati Soekarnoputri, although claiming to be concerned about the destruction in Leuser, has done little to halt the project.
This has left Nabiel's office and the Ministry of Forestry pitted against the Minister of Settlement and Regional Infrastructure, and the Aceh provincial government.
Aceh Governor Abdullah Puteh hopes the Ladia Galaska will lead to economic revitalization in the war-torn province.
The road is supposed to connect isolated areas in western Aceh and eastern Aceh, thus facilitating the delivery of commodities and boosting economic activities in the areas concerned.
This could result in damage to between 200 and 400 square kilometers of forest in the park, the Leuser Management Unit (UML) has warned.
Leuser is home to some 6,000 orangutans, 4,000 elephants, 200 tigers and 50 Sumatra rhinos, according to a recent estimate by the Leuser Management Unit (UML).
Despite being rich in natural resources, Aceh remains one of the country's most impoverished provinces.
A nearly three-decades-long war between Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels and the government has rendered many development schemes undertaken in the past worthless.
Last December, the two sides signed a peace agreement but after five months the province now finds itself once again on the brink of war.