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.