Sanctions sought over mudslide
Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Office of the State Minister of the Environment called on the government to deal firmly with state forestry company PT Perhutani and the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG), which, it said, should be held responsible for the recent mudflow that killed more than 30 at a hot spring tourist resort in Mojokerto, East Java.
Deputy to the state minister with responsibility for environmental conservation affairs Liana Bratasida said here on Monday that her office had submitted a recommendation for the firm measures, following a thorough investigation last week.
She said the incident had had a lot to do with PT Perhutani's failure to conserve the forest in the upper part of the tourist resort, located in Pacet village, Mojokerto, and BMG's failure to give an early warning well before the incident occurred.
"Sure, we have recommended that the President and law enforcers punish officials from the two institutions who are deemed responsible for the disaster," she said, adding the recommendation was based on Law No. 23/1997 on environmental management.
Under the law, the perpetrator of any activity who knowingly causes pollution, degradation of the environment or causes the loss of human lives, is subject to a maximum 15 years in jail and a fine of Rp 750 million (US$55,500).
Crimes against the environment committed unintentionally carry a maximum 5 years in jail and a Rp 150 million fine.
The Padusan tragedy occurred on Dec. 11 when a hot spring tourist resort was hit by a sudden landslide.
The recreation site, managed by Perhutani II, is located near a river, which is blocked by a dam.
A canal was constructed to carry water from the river.
However, the design of the canal seemingly failed to anticipate the huge flood, and a landslide caused a major mudflow that hit the hot spring resort.
According to Liana, Perhutani II was responsible for the badly managed recreation sites and the surrounding forests.
"Had there been an early warning about heavy downpours, we may have been able to warn visitors to stay away from the resort," she said.
The Ministry of Resettlement and Regional Infrastructure must also be held responsible for design faults in the canal and the dam, which failed to hold back the flood.
The Environmental Forum (Walhi), which has blamed Perhutani for the incident, has reportedly prepared a class action against the company.
It said that the incident was more the result of human error than natural disaster.