Sulawesi tribe opposes Lake Lindu dam project

Sulawesi tribe opposes Lake Lindu dam project

JAKARTA (JP): The indigenous people of Central Sulawesi are
opposing the government's plan to turn their Lake Lindu, the hub
of their cultural activities and livelihood, into a multi-purpose
reservoir.

"We are not here to fight against the government. We are only
afraid of losing our homes," said Gesadombu, 63, the Tribal Chief
of the Lindu plains, during a press conference here yesterday.

The government plans to turn the lake into a hydropower-
generating plant and an irrigation reservoir.

Gesadombu said the lake was the source of the Lindu tribe's
livelihood and a change in its function would practically destroy
their future.

Gesadombu, who was accompanied by 23 other fellow Lindu
indigenous people, non-governmental activists, students and
nature-lovers from Central Sulawesi, spoke at the headquarters of
the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi).

During their visit to Jakarta, the group plans to meet
officials of the State Power company, the National Commission on
Human Rights, plus the Ministers of Forestry, Environment, Mines
and Energy to raise opposition to the project.

Gesadombu said it was hard to describe the strong traditional
and practical ties the Lindu people had with the land they live
on.

These traditional values, he said, would undoubtedly perish
with the presence of the government's plan to turn the lake into
a reservoir.

Chalid Mohammad from Walhi said the plan to build the
reservoir and 75-megawatt power generator were made public in
1988 and immediately triggered unrest. The public charged that
the government was overly discreet about it.

He explained that, at that time, feasibility studies were
being conducted by PT Yodya Karya and a French consultant
company, Coyne et Beller. They later revealed that the lake's
water level would have to be raised some two to seven meters,
according to Chalid.

Four villages, which are inhabited by more than 3,000 people,
would be inundated, he said, obviously meaning that the villagers
would have to be resettled.

"Their traditional and ecologically-friendly methods of
designating lake and forest zones would be removed as well,"
Chalid said.

Part of the Lore Lindu National Park, a nature conservation
boasting some 125 endemic species of plants and animals, would
also have to be cleared to give way to the dam, he said.

Amran Tambaru, a student from Palu, Central Sulawesi's
capital, said it was the government who had to learn from the
Lindu people on how to manage water and land -- not the other way
around.

"The people of Lindu all have the right to express their
culture and the government has an obligation to listen to them,"
he said.

In a seminar held last May -- which was attended by the
provincial government officials, including Governor Azis
Lamadjido, NGO activists and indigenous Lindu people -- it was
recommended that the government redesign the dam.

According to the new plan, the Lindu people did not need
resettling because the lake's surface did not have to be
elevated.

These alterations, the government said, were possible because
the area had changed over the years and the new design would be
more profitable.

"We do not believe the government made any changes because
they could have announced it in the first place," said Chalid.

He charged that the government was "only trying to sell its
proposal" and once the project began, they would not keep their
promise.

Dedeng Alwi from Walhi's Central Sulawesi chapter accused the
government of conducting "divisive strategies" by "luring"
government officials of Lindu origin into convincing fellow
indigenous people into agreeing to the plan.(pwn)