Nature conservation in Puncak

Nature conservation in Puncak

Finally the Puncak mountain resort area, popularly called the
Bopunjur (Bogor-Puncak-Cianjur) strip, is declared close for
tourist development. No more villas, hotels or restaurants may be
built in the area. The closure of the resort area to tourist
development is based on an instruction issued by President
Soeharto and is intended to restore the area to its original
function as an environmental conservation zone.

It is to be hoped that this presidential instruction regarding
the Puncak area heralds a stricter attitude on the part of the
government to protect the area and reduce the danger of flooding
in Jakarta.

For many decades the Puncak area has raised questions due to
its capacity as a watershed and its growing potential for tourist
development. Jakarta Governor Surjadi Soedirdja once noted the
great attention the Dutch colonial authorities paid to Puncak as
a watershed area.

When Dutch planters began opening tea plantations in the area
the colonial administration started constructing drainage canals
to anticipate the danger of flooding due to the conversion of
forests into plantations.

And what efforts have since been made by our government?

As far as we know, it can be said that the government's
efforts to protect the Bopunjur strip so far have been
halfhearted. Conflicts of interest exist between the province of
West Java and Jakarta. Although officially an agency for
cooperation for the development of the Jakarta-Bogor-Tangerang-
Bekasi area exists, the channel has been largely ineffective.

As far as we are concerned, naturally any positive actions
that the government undertakes and which effectively protect the
public from the danger of floods deserve to be supported. The way
in which we manage floods and their prevention, which so far
seems to have been ineffective, should be corrected as soon as
possible.

-- Bisnis Indonesia, Jakarta