The Padusan tragedy
The Padusan tragedy
The calamity that befell scores of families at Padusan, in the
village of Pacet, Mojokerto in East Java, this week is the latest
reminder of how serious the problem of environmental degradation
has become in Indonesia. While some confusion still existed as of
Friday as to the exact number of people who either died or went
missing in the landslide that swept away much of what was once
the popular hot springs resort of Padusan near Pacet during the
week, the course of events itself was clear enough.
Being one of the more affordable health and recreation spots,
the hot spring pools of Padusan on the slopes of Mount Welirang
to the southeast of Mojokerto has long been a popular holiday
destination among the population of the surrounding areas. On the
day that the calamity happened, the holiday crowd was believed to
have numbered well over 100 people who were enjoying their
extended Idul Fitri holiday.
Eyewitness accounts of the disaster made mention of a sudden
rumbling sound coming from the slopes of the mountain above the
pools about 20 minutes before the landslide struck -- time enough
for the site to be evacuated had someone only had the presence of
mind to sound the alarm. As it was, neither the bathers nor
onlookers took heed. Suddenly, a wave of mud and rocks hit the
area, sweeping away all but a part of the main building.
As of late Friday, at least 31 people -- both adults and
children -- were confirmed dead. Nobody knows for certain how
many others are missing, although according to some estimates the
bodies of about 50 or 60 people could have been carried
downstream by the landslide. The question that is now on
everybody's lips is: Who is to blame?
In the wake of the disaster, the first public reaction was to
put the blame on the illegal loggers who had stripped the area
above Padusan of much of its forest cover. Undeniably, denudation
and heavy rainfall had combined to trigger the landslide. But if
illegal loggers are the culprits, the local administration, by
implication, is also to blame because it failed to enforce the
law and prevent the loggers from carrying out their destructive
work.
Furthermore, reports have it that the hot springs are managed
together by Perhutani, the state company that runs and manages
forestry, and the local administration. Obviously, that would
make state Perhutani a partner in the act of criminal negligence.
One other factor that is worth noting in this context is that
Perhutani has planted pine trees in the area above Padusan. It
was under Perhutani that pine trees of the species Pinus merusii
were first planted on a large scale on land that was considered
not very fertile or less suitable for planting with other trees.
The logic that underlies this move was seemingly sound enough.
Whereas the Dutch colonial administration in the past planted
teak and mahogany trees for commercial use on such land,
Perhutani followed suit by planting pines, not only to produce
resin but to grow timber that could be sold on the world market.
Furthermore, pines are fast-growing trees. The flaw in this line
of reasoning is that Indonesia would have a hard time competing
in this particular line of production with countries such as
Finland and Canada.
In the longer term, pine trees also tend to destroy the soil
that supports them. For that reason it is debatable whether pine
trees are suitable for planting in Java. The only region where
they seem to have yielded commercially good results is Aceh, now
the Special Province of Nangroe Aceh Darussalam. One major lesson
that the Padusan disaster has taught us is that it is a major
mistake to invite logging, especially illegal logging, by
planting commercial trees on land designed to protect the soil in
water-catchment areas.
As for who is responsible for the Padusan disaster, we frankly
do not see how Perhutani, or the local administration, could
possibly evade taking the responsibility. After all, it is
difficult to accept that those two parties, knowing that much of
the land has been stripped of its cover by loggers and forest
fires, were unaware of the dangers that the onset of the rainy
season would bring. At the very least, their failure to close the
site in time or at least to set up an early warning system
amounts to an act of criminal negligence they cannot easily deny.