Rapid development causes high tides in Demak regency

Text by Tertiani Simanjuntak, photos by Bertho Wedhatama

SEMARANG (JP): High tides bring all good things from the sea, but what happens if it reaches your doorstep?

"The tides forced us to leave our homes. Some who stay have had to change their means of livelihood, from growing crops to become fishermen since there is no more land to plow," the 40- year-old Rusdi of Morosari village in Demak regency said while staring out at the expanse of swamp land which used to be rice fields.

It all started in 1998 when the regency, located only one kilometer from the Java Sea, was badly hit by high tides, or rob in local language, drowning several villages along the banks of the Babon River which empties into the sea.

"There were times when we were woken-up in the middle of the night by an unexpected high tide flooding our homes. Sometimes the water reached up to our neck. But the effect here was not as bad as in Tambaksari village," Rusdi said.

At least three villages: Tonosari, Morosari and Tambaksari, suffered the worst effects of the perpetual flooding in Demak, some 40 kilometers from the heart of the Central Java capital of Semarang.

Only six families insisted on staying in the abandoned Tambaksari village along the estuary of the Babon River while some 60 other families have chosen to be relocated to the new Tambaksari village, some three kilometers away.

Marhanah, a woman in her 60s, said they preferred to live on the land which is gradually subsiding because it was the ideal place for the closely-knit fishermens' families to reach the sea.

"I was born here where my ancestors were buried. We have lived off the sea all these years. It's better to stay here," she said while cleaning fish to be sold to a food stall selling fried fish in Morosari market which opens in the afternoon.

The remaining families, who are led by Marhanah's eldest brother Zaini, sell their catch and purchase their daily needs at the nearest market by boat, the fastest transportation to reach the hamlet.

Children of the three small villages go to the nearest elementary school in the Tonosari village by boat or on foot, walking through slippery paths. They don't have to wear socks and shoes since stagnate water fills the classrooms as high as their ankles.

The banks of the river where it crosses the village have been cemented and a sea wall to anchor their motorboats has been built to protect the six houses from the high tides, but those barricades have to be raised from time to time.

The residents even elevated the floor of their houses until it almost reached the windowsill just to prevent the water from entering their homes.

"The land keeps sinking. It seems that we are getting closer and closer to the sea," Marhanah said.

A study of the Central Java chapter of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) assessed that the coastal area of Semarang province is prone to land subsidence where the sea water can reach as far inland as 1.5 kilometers from the shore.

The topography of the land shows that the coastal area is below sea level.

The massive industrial development in the region in recent years, is a major concern as the fragile land cannot bear the construction of factories, buildings and real estate established there.

"The development has ignored the environment of the coastal area. The sea wall which protects the industrial area and the harbor, is one of the concerns as it causes massive sea waves to hit the land outside the area ... and it sacrifices the Babon River," Walhi chairman M. Abdul Rohim Mandanganu said.

"The high tides do not occur because of God's will upon the people here, it is caused by greedy people and erroneous development plans which do not consider the local people or the environmental perspective."

The villagers also pointed out that the water is contaminated with industrial waste and is polluting their fish hatcheries resulting in a decrease in their harvest.

Rusdi, who owns three boats which he uses to lend to families and neighbors, said they are waiting for the government to help them cope with the problems.

"We can survive the floods. But, we need the government to help improve the conditions here instead of encouraging us to move out," he said.