Govt urged to halt road project

Govt urged to halt road project

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A number of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) reiterated
their demand on Tuesday for the government to cancel the
controversial Ladia Galaska road project in Aceh due to its
adverse impact on the environment.

"We made the appeal once again amid reports that three
ministries had agreed to proceed with the project," Indro
Cahyono, director of the Workers Union for the Conservation of
Indonesian Forests (Skephi), was quoted by Antara as saying,
following a meeting with State Minister of the Environment
Rachmat Witoelar.

The government decided two weeks ago to resume the
construction of the 470-kilometer Ladia Galaska highway, but will
create a new route that will not cut through the pristine,
protected forest and conservation areas. The decision was reached
during a meeting between Minister of Public Works Djoko Kirmanto,
Minister of Forestry M.S. Kaban and State Minister of the
Environment.

According to the new plan, the project will not go through the
45-kilometer section connecting Pinding and Lokop, located in the
middle of the Leuser Ecosystem, as originally planned.

As an alternative, they will construct a road connecting
Peurelak.

The government has maintained that the Ladia Galaska highway,
which will link the west and east coasts of the province, is
expected to stimulate economic activity in the province's western
coastal areas.

But environmentalists in Indonesia and abroad have been
concerned about the adverse effects of the project, which was
started in 2002, cut through a large swathe of the delicate
Leuser Ecosystem.

They also doubted the economic benefits of the project as it
would only pass through villages a with limited number of people.

The NGOs also said on Tuesday that the resumption of the
project would open the way for people to illegally cut down
timber in the protected forest areas and hunt down protected
orangutans as well as other species.

"After the tsunami, there will be another environmental
disaster (if the project is continued). So we appeal to the
State Minister of the Environment to halt the project," Indro
said.

The activists had also launched an international campaign to
put pressure on the Indonesian government to abandon the project,
calling on foreign donors to stop the disbursement of funds for
the reconstruction and rehabilitation of Aceh until the
government improved on its commitment to protect the environment.

Meanwhile, Greg McDonald of the Sumatra Orangutan Society
claimed that the organization had collected signatures from
approximately 80,000 people from 40 countries, appealing to the
government to drop the project.

He added that the organization had also sent a letter to
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono with a similar plea.

"We hope the President realizes that the Ladia Galaska project
has become an international issue," he said, describing the
project as a vandalism against the environment.