Ladia Galaska road project to go ahead despite criminal allegations
Ladia Galaska road project to go ahead despite criminal allegations
P.C. Naommy, Jakarta
The government-sponsored Ladia Galaska trans-Aceh road project is
moving forward despite allegations of criminal intent from
environmentalists, an ongoing police investigation and a pending
court ruling.
"We consider the project illegal because it was started
without the required Amdal. They (the government) failed to
submit the document for up to a year after the project had
already begun in 2002, which means they were operating without a
license," said Indro Sugianto, executive director of the
Indonesian Center for Environmental Law, referring to the
Environmental Impact Analysis, which must be conducted on all
major real estate and infrastructure projects prior to breaking
ground.
Indro's charges are based on Article 50, Paragraph 3 of Law
No. 41/1999 on forestry, which says that a project that proceeds
without a license is considered a violation and is subject to a
maximum 10-year prison sentence and a maximum Rp 5 billion
(US$531,915) fine.
This is complemented by the State Minister for the Environment
Decree No. 17/2002, which stipulates that an environmental
analysis is required for any construction project in protected
areas.
The planned Ladia Galaska road network cuts through hundreds
of kilometers of protected forest areas in Nanggroe Aceh
Darussalam province.
Environmentalists in Indonesia and abroad are particularly
concerned about the damage the project will cause to the Leuser
Ecosystem. The main section of the Ladia Galaska road will cut
through 100.16 kilometers of protected forests and 1.5 kilometers
of forest conservation areas, including the Leuser Ecosystem.
A special crimes director at the National Police, Brig. Gen.
Suharto, said the police could not take action against the
officials of the central and Aceh governments who initiated the
project.
"No articles in the Environmental Law explicitly stipulates
that not having an Amdal is a crime," he said.
Suharto admitted, however, that the police had limited
experience in applying the environmental and forestry laws in
cases such as the Ladia Galaska project.
Jailani Hasan, former Riseh village head in Sawang
subdistrict, North Aceh, and a member of the independent Ladia
Galaska Surveillance Team, said the road did not meet the needs
of locals and would only cause environmental damage.
According to his survey results, the Aceh administration would
need to build only 82 kilometers of the 470-kilometer highway to
boost the local economy.
Furthermore, Geologist Eko Soebowo of the Indonesian Institute
of Sciences (LIPI), also on the surveillance team, said six of
the nine planned routes would cross the Sumatra fault line and
would thus be prone to earthquakes, landslides and collapse.
The Ministry of Settlement and Regional Infrastructure had
said the road should link the eastern and western coasts of the
province to stimulate the rural economy of the western Aceh
coast.
The first stage of construction involves laying down 47
kilometers of road to connect remote Lhok Seumot, West Aceh,
which has a population of 1,500, to Beutong Ateuh, a subdistrict
in West Aceh.
In the second stage of construction, 35 kilometers of road
will connect the people of Ceulala, a subdistrict in Central
Aceh, to Central Aceh capital Takengon.
As it has been difficult to prove criminal intent in relation
to the project, environmentalists have resorted to civil
litigation to try to halt ongoing work in the forests of Aceh.
The Indonesian Environmental Forum (Walhi) filed a lawsuit on
Oct. 13, 2003, against parties involved in the road project,
including the Aceh governor and the Minister of Settlement and
Regional Infrastructure Soenarno. Walhi based its suit on Article
38 of Law No. 23/1997 on natural resource management.
After 23 court sessions, the verdict is set to be delivered on
June 29.