On nuclear plant
On nuclear plant
On the day of the terrible floods that submerged almost all of
Jakarta, my husband and I decided not to contribute to the
already chaotic traffic and stayed at home. I therefore had time
to read The Jakarta Post from A to Z. On the "Opinion" page I
read the fascinating article written by Mr. Zatni Arbi, entitled
Why shouldn't we operate a nuclear plant in Indonesia? The
headline is misleading because it immediately gave me the
impression that Arbi would go on to defend a decision for
Indonesia to go nuclear. However, I was put at east later when I
discovered that he brought forward 1001 good reasons why it would
a terrible mistake for Indonesia to proceed with its nuclear
plan.
Having been a citizen of Indonesia for more than 30 years, I
can only agree with all the points Arbi presents in his article.
It is amazing to me that people in high places can even consider
the possibility of going nuclear in Indonesia. Anyone who cruises
Jakarta daily can see that Indonesians are lagging very far
behind in caring for technology, usually bought at great cost but
rarely maintained.
As an example, in the recent frenzy of digging up roads, the
work is unspeakably sloppy and often abandoned half-finished.
Excavators tear happily at underground cables, ripping apart
existing power and telephone lines, crippling expensive computer
on-line networking for weeks and even months.
Has anyone ever tried to figure out the cost to banks,
airlines and so on of this total disregard for existing
infrastructure and the damage it does to others. Arbi is so right
in saying that Indonesians have very little respect for public
safety and the comfort of their fellow Indonesians.
It is sickening to see how people with power and money often
lack respect for others, sometimes erecting monstrous houses that
from the front look like Hollywood but from the back (and the
kampong) are more like Sarajevo after a visit by the Serbs. Just
such an example alone should make it clear to all of us that the
basic ethics are not in place at this time to even consider
nuclear power as an option.
What Indonesia should do instead is to mobilize and invest all
its nuclear money and available scientists into researching,
developing, perfecting and exploiting its abundant sunlight to
generate energy beyond the year 2000.
Indonesians do not have the ethics, attitude nor the
sensitivity to go nuclear and that's why the headline over Arbi's
article should have read: Why we shouldn't operate a nuclear
plant in Indonesia
MRS. CONNY GAFAR
Jakarta