Lack of sea defenses erodus Bengkulu coast
Lack of sea defenses erodus Bengkulu coast
Jon Afrizal, The Jakarta Post, Muko Muko
Sea waves are steadily eroding the coastline of Bengkulu
province, especially in Muko Muko regency, due to a lack of
wave barriers along the west coast of Sumatra.
Erosion has damaged many sections of the west coast Trans-
Sumatra Highway, which runs directly along the coastline facing
the Indian Ocean.
"The waves are eating away about 6.5 meters of the shoreline
each year," Sukardi, spokesman for plantation company PT
Agromuko, told The Jakarta Post on Monday.
The high level of erosion has been exacerbated by the change
in wave intensity along the sloping contoured coast. Previously,
waved averaged about 1.5 meters during high tides, but now have
risen to more than three meters high. The change was noticed
after the tsunami last year, and has continued until now.
According to Sukardi, his office installed 12 marker pegs in
1998 to determine the rate of erosion along the coastline.
The pegs were erected in a parallel line at five-meter
intervals from the inland towards the shore.
"Now, there are just three pegs left," said Sukardi, who is
also an agriculture officer at the oil palm and rubber plantation
company.
The last peg is only about five meters from the Trans-Sumatra
Highway, which connects the regency with Bengkulu city and West
Sumatra province.
Based on the current rate of erosion, the road would be
overcome by the sea in three year's time, and in another three
years the sea would encroach into the oil palm plantation.
The erosion in Ketahun district in North Bengkulu regency had
already damaged parts of the highway, and road embankments
built on five-meter-high cliffs had collapsed due to the
continuous pounding of waves early this year.
The local administration has restored the road, but there are
still many sections of the highway that are threatened by
erosion.
Sukardi's company has been involved in a reforestation program
since 2004, planting deep-rooted trees such as mahogany and pine
varieties. Six-month-old tree saplings have been planted in three
rows three meters apart.
The reforestation program was especially concentrated along
the coast of Tanahretak district in North Muko Muko, along a
three-kilometer stretch of particularly threatened coastline.
A resident of Airpungur beach in Tanahretak, Syamsul Bahri,
said that the trees could enhance the area, including the Muko
Muko nature preserve, which was engulfed in flames during the dry
season a few years ago.
He added that local residents had proposed to the regental
administration that wave barriers be built at the tourist
destination, using rocks found along the beach.