Ladia Galaska road project prone to earthquakes, expert tells court

Ladia Galaska road project prone to earthquakes, expert tells court

Nani Farida, Banda Aceh

The route of the controversial Ladia Galaska highway in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam province, which runs through the Leuser National Reserve Park, ran parallel to an active geologic fault prone to earthquakes, a researcher has said.

Geological researcher Eko Soebowo from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) revealed his findings when he presented his testimony as an expert witness on Tuesday in the Ladia Galaska case brought against Aceh Governor Abdullah Puteh and local agencies.

The case was brought to the Banda Aceh District Court by the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) in opposition to the project, which it says would further damage the protected Leuser park.

Eko said that out of the nine roads planned for the project, six roads would run parallel to it, and three others would cross it.

"The roads parallel to the fault would frequently be damaged," he told the court.

However, every road close to the fault, located 30 kilometers deep, would be vulnerable to disasters, Eko said.

Such roads were also prone to landslides, he said.

Eko was a member of a team which went to observe work on the project for 10 days at the end of March. Previously, he said he had only heard about it in the media.

During the trial, Walhi also presented two experts from the Leuser Management Unit's forest destruction observation division, Lahmuddin and Muhammad Hasan.

In his testimony, Lahmuddin said he had visited the Blang Kejren-Pinding Gayo Lues road, part of the Ladia Galaska project, at the end of October last year. He saw several people there constructing a new road next to the old one.

"I saw piles of wood and a large amount of heavy equipment used for logging," he said.

Meanwhile, Hasan said he found no one on the Jeuram-Beutong Ateuh road in southern Aceh.

"I only found huts used by road construction workers. Nobody lives there because it is a hilly area with steep cliffs and is densely forested," he said.

Puteh has said the project, which crosses the protected forest, was needed by people living in six isolated regencies in the province.

Despite mounting criticism, President Megawati Soekarnoputri threw her weight last March behind the Ladia Galaska highway project.

While the project should continue, its management had to produce a strategy to reduce potential environmental damage, or risk an international backlash, she said.

The Ladia Galaska project has gone ahead at a slow pace, partly because of the fierce criticism it has faced.

It consists of a highway and bridges 504.9 kilometers long, which run through 164 kilometers of protected forests. The government has earmarked Rp 240 billion (US$27.5 million) for the project.

The project has split the Cabinet, with environment minister Nabiel Makarim and forestry minister M. Prakosa warning of environmental damage resulting from the project, which is sponsored by the Ministry of Resettlement and Regional Infrastructure.

The protests should be taken into account, the President said.

Megawati also proposed the project committee should fence the highway, so that it could prevent the rise of new settlements and commercial ventures.