Tragedy on Bahorok scale may be repeated

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Spokesman of the Leuser Management Unit (UML), Denny Purba, suggested that the authorities conduct a comprehensive study of the Leuser Ecosystem Region (KEL), where the Bahorok river system is located, to determine the root cause of the flash flood.

"The landslides and flash flood were most likely caused by numerous factors. We can't just blame the rain," he told The Jakarta Post.

Deny said local residents had been persuaded by the owners of several timber companies to log areas within KEL, including the protected Mount Leuser National Park.

He argued that forest concession holders are often close to local figures, such as security officials, government officials and councillors. Therefore, the law cannot touch them, he said.

Sources told The Jakarta Post that both the rapidly deteriorating forest and the absence of law enforcement within the national park had contributed to it's mismanagement.

Corrupt and collusive practices, the sources said, have been rampant because the Leuser project is jointly financed by the European Union and the Indonesian government.

"Government officers and security personnel have kept their mouths shut and even backed up illegal logging for their own financial gain. These criminal activities apparently suit businessmen, as without illegal logging they cannot meet the increasing demands of the international market," the sources said.

A repeat of the Bahorok tragedy, in which more than 140 people died, is only a matter of time. Moreover, if forest conservation is not prioritized other regencies could face similar disasters, the sources predicted.

They said that the Consortium Group on Indonesia (CGI) had inserted a clause on forest conservation into an agreement with European donor countries. However, this would have little effect on pressurizing the government to crack down on illegal logging, since the donor countries had their own business interests in Indonesia.

The London-based Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) called on foreign donors to consider tying future assistance to evidence that the Indonesian government is cracking down on illegal logging. It urged President Megawati Soekarnoputri to take a lead in fighting corruption.

EIA has alleged that the military, through its private businesses, has been involved in illegal logging and the operation of sawmills, to make up for the shortage in the troops' daily expenses.

Bukit Barisan Military Commander, which oversees North Sumatra, Maj. Gen. Tritamtomo has both denied the involvement of the military as an institution and challenged the public to produce proof of its involvement.

Agus Sutiadi, a senior staff member of the National Development Planning Board (Bappenas) who handles multilateral cooperation with foreign countries in Mount Leuser National Park's sustainable management program has come up with a proposal.

He says it is more effective and efficient to reroute the road network outside the park and resettle more than 300 families living inside the park than to clear the park for the road network "because the costs are too high."

Walhi director in Medan Herwin Nasution has lambasted the government for what it claims are mostly rhetorical responses to the destruction of the national park.

He says the government cannot blame the condition of the park on foreign countries or third parties, as it has failed to enforce the law and bring the perpetrators of illegal logging to justice.

"International pressure, in terms of eco-labeling or forest product certification, will be ineffective, unless we first show our own commitment to complying with the law and taking harsher action against illegal loggers," he said.