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