Minister slams highway project

Minister slams highway project

JAKARTA: State Minister for the Environment Nabiel Makarim
promised on Tuesday to lobby President Megawati Soekarnoputri
about alternative routes for Aceh's controversial Ladia Galaksa
road project.

Nabiel did not reveal the alternative routes or the scheduled
date of his meeting with the President.

Megawati has given her green light to the project, which cuts
through Aceh's Leuser National Park, the only significant
protected forest left in Sumatra.

Nabiel reiterated his warning the highway would give access to
illegal logging and would create widespread deforestation.

Environmentalists have said the road would threaten wildlife
and pollute water supplies in the park, which is home to Sumatran
rhinos, orangutans, tigers and elephants. -- JP