Govt told to create more protected forests

Nana Rukmana, The Jakarta Post, Kuningan, West Java

Kuningan's Regency government should change the status of thousands of hectares of landslide-prone land in the area into protected forests, the regency's council said.

The call was made in order to avoid more fatal landslides in the future, which cost residents dearly, the council said.

Council speaker Ading Ahyadi said about 7,000 hectares of land prone to landslides needed to be conserved immediately.

"Most of the areas are deforested hills. We suggest the government declare those areas protected forests, so that it can begin reforestation," he said.

After the areas were reforested, the government was obliged to protect the forests from illegal logging or other actions that would remove the trees, Ading said.

The council had earlier proposed the drafting of a bylaw prohibiting people from building houses in the affected areas, he said.

"These proposals are aimed at preventing landslides in Kuningan, which happen almost every time rain falls."

Ading said he had conveyed the proposals directly to the regent, who had welcomed the suggestions.

Kuningan regent Aang Hamid Sugandi said he had met officials from the Ministry of Forestry and state-run forest management company PT Perhutani, who also supported the plan to turn the areas into protected forests.

Aang believed residents would not resist the idea.

"We have support from local residents in our area to turn their lands into protected forests," he said.

The 7,000 hectares of land are located in the southern Subang and Selajambe districts, which border with the Ciamis regency.

In early January this year landslides cut three separate roads connecting the Selajambe, Subang and Darma districts in the regency. Landslides also damaged dozens of houses. No fatalities were reported.

The worse incident happened in January last year, when a landslide hit the Cantilan subdistrict in Selajambe district, killing 10 local residents.

The landslide was caused by a 40-meter high hill collapsing into three houses, burying 11 residents. Only one escaped.

According to data from the Kuningan Forestry Office, the Kuningan Regency has 42,811 hectares of forest areas.