Nuclear activists to campaign against RI
Nuclear activists to campaign against RI
YOGYAKARTA (JP): International nuclear activists threatened
Saturday to undermine Indonesia's popularity in their countries
if Jakarta continues with its plan to build a nuclear power
plant.
"We will campaign against Indonesia's tourism promotions in
Japan and Taiwan until the Indonesian government cancels the
plan," Kao Chengen, a professor who took part in the 1996 No-
Nukes Asia Forum held in Indonesia, told The Jakarta Post.
According to official statistics some 900,000 Taiwanese and
Japanese tourists visited Indonesia last year.
Other action the activists are considering includes sending
postcards containing messages that may discourage people from
visiting Indonesia and staging protests at various embassies and
the United Nations.
The National Atomic Energy Agency hopes to build the first of
several nuclear power plants in 1998 or 1999, pending the results
of the first project near Mt. Muria, 440 kilometers east of
Jakarta.
Hosted by Indonesia, the 1996 No-Nukes Asia Forum held last
week was attended by participants from Japan, Taiwan, South
Korea, Thailand and the Philippines with the intention of
preventing the Indonesian government from building the plant.
Delegations of activists met with legislators early last week,
voicing their opposition to the Mt. Muria project. After taking
part in the International Sustainable Energy Conference in
Jakarta, the activists headed for Central Java for a field visit
to the proposed plant site.
Local activists claim communities in Lemahabang have been
under strict surveillance and debate concerning the nuclear power
plant in the area is prohibited.
A government-sponsored bill on nuclear energy is currently
under deliberation in the House of Representatives. If enacted it
would replace the current law on nuclear energy enacted in 1964
and pave the way for the government to build Indonesia's first
nuclear power plant.
Indonesia currently has three small nuclear reactors that are
used chiefly for research purposes.
Anggar Jati Wijaya from the Yogyakarta Forum for NGOs, said
that the bill's deliberation reflects the government's avoidance
to involve the public in deciding whether or not to accept the
proposal. (02/14)