Learning from Nias

The high-level visits paid in the past few days by top central and provincial government officials and aid agencies to disaster- stricken Nias have, in a sense, brought to a close a most tragic episode in the drama that has befallen this Indian Ocean island off the North Sumatra coast.

As has been widely reported by the media, floods and landslides engulfed seven villages in six districts located at the southeastern tip of the island in the early hours of Tuesday last week. They left at least 83 people dead and 192 people missing, according to the latest official count released on Monday by local search-and-rescue officials. At least 332 houses were destroyed and 200 hectares of arable land were reported as ruined. Hundreds of people are now living in temporary shelters on safer ground.

But even as the danger appears to have abated, this most calamitous disaster to hit the island in more than 60 years is laying bare a number of questions that need to be answered if more catastrophes of this magnitude are to be prevented from happening -- not only in Nias, but elsewhere in the Indonesian archipelago as well.

Ecologists have blamed this most recent disaster in large part on the denudation of the island's forest cover to make way for nilam (patchouli) shrub estates. The catalyst for the landslides was excessive rainfall in the preceding months. And while the damage caused by denudation is not precisely known, the Indonesian Environmental Forum (Walhi) estimates that "hundreds of hectares" of forest have been cleared -- apparently by local residents as well as by forestry companies -- for this purpose.

Of course, in view of the fact that Nias is not only the most isolated but also statistically the poorest regency in the province of North Sumatra, the local people can hardly be blamed for seeking additional sources of income. This problem might have been alleviated if the government had offered them assistance by providing jobs for the island's growing population.

So far, tourism is one of Nias's main sources of revenue. The island, especially the southern parts around Teluk Dalam, Bawomataluo and Hilisimaetano, is internationally renowned for being the site of one of the world's only remaining stone-age cultures. In the past few years, it has gained popularity as a fine surfing destination as well, which, in turn, has brought some benefit to the local economy, especially around the more popular surfing sites.

Still another problem is the efficacy of the local bureaucracy. This is relevant not only in Nias but almost everywhere relief work has to be done after the occurrence of large-scale natural disasters. Accurate casualty estimates are hard to come by, making quick relief work difficult.

Also, in the case of Nias, one might be surprised to learn that not even the local forestry authorities are aware of the extent of the damage that has been done to the island's forests, or that any damage has been done at all, depending instead on reports supplied by the local population.

Hopefully, the recent visits to Nias by Vice President Hamzah Haz and other top-ranking officials will bring some meaningful improvements in these areas. If that can be achieved, much good can yet come from the plight of the people of this remote Indonesian island and other remote Indonesian areas as well.