Ladia Galaska road project to go ahead

JAKARTA: The government has decided to continue the construction of a controversial highway project in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, but will create a new route to avoid passing through a conservation forest area known as the Leuser Ecosystem.

The decision was reached during a recent meeting between Minister of Public Works Djoko Kirmanto, Minister of Forestry M.S. Kaban and State Minister of the Environment Rachmat Witoelar.

According to the agreement, the project will not pass through the 45-kilometer route connecting Pinding and Lokop, which is located in the Leuser Ecosystem, as originally planned.

As an alternative, the government will construct a road connecting Peurelak. It will take about five months to redesign the alternative route.

The 470-kilometer 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.

However, environmentalists in Indonesia and abroad are concerned that the project will traverse protected forest, and cut through conservation forest, including the Leuser Ecosystem. -- JP