Learning from Nias

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.