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