Two 18-hole golf courses face destruction
Primastuti Handayani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The existence of 31 golf courses in Greater Jakarta was apparently one cause of the big floods last week.
Governor Sutiyoso announced on Thursday that his administration had agreed to the demolition of two 18-hole golf courses: Pantai Indah Kapuk in North Jakarta and Kemayoran in Central Jakarta.
Under sharp criticism of his poor performance in preventing the big floods and assisting the victims, Sutiyoso might sacrifice both courses to prevent further flooding in the future.
The Pantai Indah Kapuk course will be converted into a water holding area behind a dam to control flooding while the Kemayoran course will become a forest.
His decision, if it is implemented, will cost a fortune for luxury housing estates, which mostly provide golf courses to attract customers.
In the early 1990s, the golf course development boom was protested by farmers whose land was bought cheaply -- some only received Rp 150 (7.3 US cents at 1993 exchange rates), per square meter.
Courses located on hundreds of hectares of productive land and along the Ciliwung river damage the quality of the environment and pose a flooding threat to Jakartans.
Environmentalist Longgena Ginting, campaigns director of the Indonesian Environment Forum (Walhi), criticized city people who claimed they were friends of nature but in fact abused it.
"Most golf courses in Indonesia were developed following land use conversion. They always changed the natural contours when developing a golf course," he said.
The special treatment needed for "exotic" grass -- mostly imported from Australia, Japan and America -- places a burden on the surrounding environment.
"Spraying pesticides and fertilizers in such monoculture areas can affect the soil structure. Besides, the imported grass consumes more water than local grasses," Ginting said.
"There must be a special environmental evaluation carried out on each golf course, especially on the water catchment beneath the grass."
The Global Antigolf Movement says in its website, "the environmental impacts include water depletion and toxic contamination of the soil, underground water, surface water and the air. This, in turn, leads to health problems for local communities, populations downstream and even golfers, caddies and people spraying chemicals on golf courses.
"The construction of golf courses in scenic natural sites, such as forest areas and coral islands, also results in the destruction of biodiversity."
But Chairman of the Indonesian Golf Course Management Association (APLGI) Yuwono Kolopaking rejected all such statements.
"The Golf Course Superintendents Association of America has published a study that found that a course also serves as a lung for its surrounding area, a dust pollution filter, absorbs rainwater and prevents erosion."
"Golf course designers usually retain trees and bushes in the rough to help the soil absorb water better."
Yuwono said that the development of a golf course always required a permit following an environmental impact analysis.
"Each course is checked twice a year. Should it violate any environmental regulations, the local environmental impact management agency, which issues the permit, will demand that the violation is rectified."
Unfortunately, the procedures might not always be properly followed as there are many corrupt officials and crooked businesspeople here.
Controversy on this issue will continue into the future. It is most important to enforce the existing regulations on golf course development.