Prevention better than cure

Prevention better than cure

Heart warming though it is to see local Jakartans uniting to gather goods and money for distribution to those affected by the recent floods, two questions must be asked in regard to this situation. Firstly, why was such devastation wrought during only a relatively mild monsoon? And secondly, what is being done by those in power to prevent the recurrence of such a catastrophe?

In all reality, this situation should not have occurred, nor could it, had the guidelines for planning and development (as set down by the Indonesian government) been adhered to.

A relatively stringent set of provisions exists to prevent any widespread exploitation of the environment for capital gain by individuals and companies, and harsh penalties exist (on paper at least) for those who breach them.

Unfortunately, it has now become common practice for these regulations to be flouted by private enterprises for the sake of short-term capital gain, with clear felling of pristine rain forests, rampant urban expansion and unchecked dumping of waste materials into waterways all occurring at the apparent indifference of authorities.

As a result we see up-stream catchment areas denuded of trees in order to make space for yet another multileveled plaza or a bigger five-star hotel; when it rains now, water which should have been trapped in natural reserves has nowhere to go but down stream, the result of which we saw recently: catastrophe.

While it is true that this latest disaster could not have occurred without the influence of nature, for reasons stated, it cannot be considered as a purely natural disaster, unless the authorities significantly reorder their priorities and shift their focus from short-term gain to more sustainable, ecologically viable development (as would occur were the current regulations enforced more vigorously), we can expect to see more and more episodes like the one just passed.

It is just unfortunate that those who pay the greatest price for the greed and myopia endemic among developers are the poor, and because they have so little to begin with their losses are all the more profound.

So while I applaud the efforts of those good enough to unquestioningly collect food, materials and funding for the less fortunate fellows, I continue to ask myself "should they be doing this job at all?"

It seems that we prefer to unite and work together after disaster strikes rather than acting in solidarity to prevent it taking place at all.

ANDREW CLIFT

Jakarta