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)