Saving Puncak's damaged environment

Saving Puncak's damaged environment

By Rita A. Widiadana

JAKARTA (JP): Efforts by the National Spatial Planning
Coordinating Board to curb development projects in the Bogor-
Puncak-Cianjur area may hardly bear fruit, a noted
environmentalist has warned.

Bianpoen, an expert at the Environment Study Center of the
University of Indonesia, said the board's planned programs are
just a repetition of old ones.

"There is nothing new in their plans. A few years ago they
(board members) pledged to deal with this issue. Nothing came out
of it. The problem has become more complicated now," he said in
reaction to the government's newest plan to tighten control on
development in the Bogor-Puncak-Cianjur area.

Last Wednesday, State Minister/Chairman of the National
Development Planning Board Ginanjar Kartasasmita told members of
the House of Representatives that the government has established
a team to handle development in the Bogor-Puncak-Cianjur area,
which has been designated as a water catchment area for Jakarta
and its surrounding areas.

The spatial planning board, chaired by Ginanjar, coordinates
representatives from the State Ministry of Environment, Ministry
of Public Works, Ministry of Home Affairs and the Jakarta and
West Java administrations.

Ginanjar said the team will promptly take the necessary action
to turn the area back into Jakarta's watershed.

Bianpoen said that the board will be unable to work properly
because it will not touch the grassroots problems.

"The key question in this case is the violations of existing
laws by those who are directly involved in controlling the
ungoverned construction of villas, hotels and other buildings on
the protected zones," he pointed out.

The government, he said, has shown its political willingness
to deal with this issue as manifested in a presidential decree
issued during the Old Order government, and in two presidential
decrees and several other provincial decrees under the New Order
government.

Problems have emerged because the laws are not enforced by
officials from the West Java provincial government, he said.
Therefore, the most important person who can handle any violation
is the West Java governor, he suggested.

The government, alarmed at the rapid development of Puncak,
called for a stop to it as far back as 10 years ago. But
construction continued, with the local administration complaining
that "powerful" people were behind much of the development.

"The governor is the key figure with the power to order his
subordinates to stop issuing building permits for the
construction of any structure in this protected area," Bianpoen
insisted.

"The board has no direct authority as it can only give
recommendations to help the government and local administration
solve the problem. Therefore, the establishment of such a board
will not be effective," Bianpoen explained.

He said the government has taken action against violators,
resulting in the demolition of many buildings. However, only a
few unscrupulous officials have been punished so far.

Koesnadi Hardjasumantri, an expert on environmental law,
commented that the existing laws and the criminal code only
stipulate punishment for those violating the law on zoning.

Existing laws specify that those violating preserved areas and
damaging the ecosystem could be jailed up to 10 years and fined a
maximum of Rp 200 million (US$100,000).

"There is no law which specifically mentions punishment for
government officials who help people damage the environment. We
should create one," said Hardjasumantri, a professor of law at
the University of Indonesia.

Identify

Bianpoen suggested the government identify the realm, overall
environmental damage in the Puncak area.

"So far, the government has only made a rough estimation on
the damages and applied quick fixes to this critical problem," he
said.

The government should take immediate action against violators
and corrupt bureaucrats, otherwise people will loose their trust
in the authorities. The government should promptly restore the
damaged areas and transform them into their original form.

Many experts, he said, have warned the government about the
damage in Puncak but it has not been able to the control
violations.

Such is the environmental condition in the area that it has
caused serious floods like the ones that hit the capital last
month, not to mention possible severe droughts in the coming dry
seasons, which will likely fall between April and August this
year, Bianpoen warned.

"There will come a time when water in Greater Jakarta's rivers
and wells will run dry because of environmental degradation in
the upstream Bogor-Puncak-Cianjur area where most of the city's
13 rivers start," he said.

Risnanto, an expert at the National Land Agency, revealed that
the Puncak area, which covers 12,615 hectares, is only able to
absorb between 7 percent and 17 percent of the rainfall.
Annually, 3,500 mm of rainwater, or 596 million cubic meters of
rainwater, fall in this protected area.

The area covered by residential and commercial buildings
reached five million square meters in l987. Now, areas covered by
buildings have greatly increased due to rapid development,
Risnanto said.

The expansion of dwelling and commercial districts have
reduced the capability of the Puncak area to appropriately absorb
rainwater. More than 260 million cubic meters of rainwater that
fall in the area go down the slopes of the hills and mountains
and into the rivers that run through Jakarta.

This excessive runoff also creates serious erosion. Erosion
has washed away 193 tons of mud a year. This means that around
501,800 tons of mud will flow into rivers in Jakarta every year.
The maximum level of erosion in the Puncak area should not exceed
between 12.5 tons and 14 tons a year, said Risnanto.

This condition will create hazardous water crisis both in the
form of flooding and water shortages. In rainy seasons,
devastating floods will probably occur in Greater Jakarta because
of the excessive water runoff from Puncak. On the other hand,
Jakarta and its surrounding areas will face a serious water
shortage in dry seasons because of a lack of groundwater reserves
in the upstream areas.

Transtoto Handhadari, an expert at the Ministry of Forestry,
said the government can make a breakthrough by applying the most
recent biotechnology in the restoration of the damaged areas.
These areas can be planted with trees that have large and
straight roots to enable the soil to absorb more rainwater. To
increase groundwater reserves, he also suggested that the
government build more water ponds, dams and reservoirs.

Such efforts will reduce erosion to only 13 tons of mud
annually and increase the soil capability to absorb rainwater to
30 percent, Handhadari concluded.