NGOs urge government to cancel nuclear plan

JAKARTA (JP): Several Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) urged the government yesterday to reconsider its plan to build a nuclear power plant and turn to alternative energy sources.

In Jakarta for the 1996 No-Nukes Asia Forum here, several international anti-nuclear advocates met with legislator Ida Yusi Dahlan from the Golkar faction at the House of Representatives.

In a statement presented to Ida, the NGOs said that the forum proposed that the authorities should cancel the plan to build a nuclear power plant on the Muria peninsula in Central Java.

They argued that the results of the feasibility study completed in March by NewJec has not yet been announced to the public and that the International Atomic Energy Agency requires that a nuclear power plant can only be built with public consensus.

The activists agreed that abandoning community input in developing a nuclear power plant will have a serious negative impact, particularly on the local people.

"Our fundamental demand is that development policies must have the support of the majority... who bear the brunt of all of that is carried out on a practical level in the name of development," their statement said.

Mohammad Anung from the Indonesian Environmental Forum, said that the government should listen to voices concerned about the hazardous impact of both the proposed nuclear power plant and the future disposal site, instead of instantaneously labeling other opinions as anti-development and anti-government.

To date, no opportunity for free and open discussion over the issue has been allowed, he said.

"Discussion on the topic of the nuclear power plant has become a very sensitive issue particularly around the proposed site near Lemahabang," Purwoko, from the Central Java branch of the Anti- nuclear Society, told The Jakarta Post.

The Forum also urged the House to establish a clear political position on the issue instead of continuing the tradition of being an institution which legitimizes unpopular policies. Last month, the House began deliberating a government-sponsored bill on nuclear power.

Hiroya Hamamoto from the Japan No-Nuke Asia Forum said that nuclear power was never an alternative, thus, the search for alternatives to nuclear power should be sought.

Meanwhile, an International Sustainable Energy Conference, held by various NGOs at the Ministry for Environment yesterday, also demanded the government pursue alternative energy sources such as solar, wind, biomass and geothermal.

"These are great energy sources because they are natural processes that have been and will continue to happen without negative impacts on the environment," their resolution read.

The conference called for allocating sufficient amount of funds to conduct research on sustainable energy sources as part of the government's national energy policy.

I Nengah Sudja, a former member of the nuclear power plant preparation committee, currently an energy project consultant, told the Post that reducing energy consumption could be implemented , for example, by providing incentives for people who try to be environmentally conscious.

"The cost of poverty is extremely expensive," he said, referring to the majority of people who cannot afford to purchase energy-saving lamps to conserve energy. (14)