Ministry vows to protect C. Java limestone caves

Ministry vows to protect C. Java limestone caves

JAKARTA (JP): The Ministry of Forestry is to remain firm in
its efforts to preserve the limestone-rich forest land in
Gombong, Central Java, and is against a plan to turn the area
into a quarry for a proposed cement plant.

Minister of Forestry Djamaludin Suryohadikusumo said yesterday
that his decision is the same as that of former forestry minister
Soedjarwo.

"As long as the plan involves the 287 hectares of forest land
in that area, the ministry will maintain its stance. The karst
ecosystem in question must be preserved and the forests will not
be converted," he asserted.

Djamaludin was responding to recent reports stating that PT
Semen Gombong had conducted a ground-breaking ceremony for the
construction of a cement plant in Gombong in spite of disapproval
from the Ministry of Forestry.

Semen Gombong's plan to build a plant in Gombong was first
reported in 1985. However, the plan was held back by the-then
forestry minister Soedjarwo, who said the karst caves in the area
were too valuable to be used to make cement.

Soedjarwo, quoting studies by a number of speleologists
including those from the International Union of Speleology and
various universities, said the limestone caves were not only
beautifully carved with stalactites and stalagmites but also
contained many underground lakes and rivers which could provide
huge water supplies for surrounding industrial estates.

The studies also stated that the limestone area, which was
estimated to have been shaped some 20 million years ago, was an
invaluable asset for science as well as for the tourism industry.

According to reports in 1985, Semen Gombong planned to build a
cement factory with an investment of Rp 400 billion (US$173.91
million at the current rate). Production was expected to start in
1995 or 1996 with a capacity of 1.5 million tons a year.

The company said it required 1,000 hectares of land, of which
287 were forests managed by the state-owned Perum Perhutani
forestry firm.

Last October, Semen Gombong submitted a letter to the Ministry
of Forestry, asking to acquire the land in question from
Perhutani.

But the ministry's research and development agency recently
reconfirmed earlier studies and recommended that the area should
remain undisturbed.

The agency also felt that if a cement plant was to be built, a
social, economic and environmental assessment by an independent
body must be conducted to ascertain its feasibility.

Djamaludin said yesterday that Semen Gombong should look for
karst deposits in other locations where the population density
and social, environmental and even political impacts were lower.

The ministry, he said, was now waiting for the office of the
Minister of Environment's Environmental Impact Management Agency
(Bapedal) to conduct site studies in the area.

"Whether or not the cement factory will be built is none of
our business...That will be handled by Bapedal, which has a
responsibility to the country. We only want to make sure that the
287 hectares of forests we manage remain as they are," he said.

"I understand that the cement industry is an important one and
that we must support it. But we want to have a sustainable type
of development, so we must think of ways to develop without
disturbing the environment," Djamaludin added.

He said that based on recent studies by his office, it was
discovered that many local people have not agreed to sell their
land to Semen Gombong.

The region, he said, has also been declared a protected area
and stipulated as one of the country's three National Karst Parks
and a world heritage site. The other parks are the Jaya Wijaya
range in Irian Jaya and the Maros mountains in South Sulawesi.
(pwn)