Vanishing islands
Vanishing islands
Six out of a thousand may not sound like many -- nor, for that
matter, would six out of 120, which is closer to the actual
number of islands contained in the Seribu (thousand) Islands
group just outside the Bay of Jakarta. That, perhaps, is why so
little attention has been given to reports this week that at
least six of the islands have disappeared in recent years. After
all, presumably none of the islands had permanent populations or
have been long abandoned by fishermen and their families.
Our lack of concern for the vanishing islands would be
acceptable if their disappearance had been the result of some
nonviolent natural process, such as gradual erosion by wind or
surf. But according to Jakarta Governor Surjadi Soedirdja last
year, nine islands have disappeared due to uncontrolled sand
quarrying, the destruction of mangrove stands, the use of
explosives for fishing, the destruction of coral reefs and the
destruction of marine life due to the disposal of oil in the sea
by passing ships -- in short, due to quite a long list of man-
made calamities.
In the face of these facts, North Jakarta Mayor H. Suprawito's
claim yesterday that he had heard of no report of any islands
disappearing since 1992 has a rather apologetic ring. Before
1992, according to Suprawito, only four islands had disappeared.
Which explanation should we believe? Dismal as the
disappearance of islands may be -- especially, one might add, in
an archipelagic country such as ours -- it is not the number or
the size of the islands that makes the case so lamentable.
Rather, it is the disrespectful, irresponsible attitude that so
many of us still seem to harbor with regard to our precious,
either unreplenishable or hard to replenish natural resources.
Whether it is four, six, or nine islands, the fact is "we know
that problems exist in that area", said HM Ali Rozi, head of the
Jakarta Office for Urban and Environmental Studies. The city's
means to control fishing and protect the area's coral reefs and
other marine resources are limited. It is hard enough for
authorities in Jakarta to cope with the capital's mounting
population pressures. But according to Rozi there is not much the
city administration can do to curb the practice because "the
quarrying permits are issued by the Ministry of Mines and
Energy".
The same kind of mix-up in the division of authority between
the central government and the city administration that hinders
the effective supervision of other affairs -- traffic, for
example -- is further hampering Jakarta's efforts to control the
situation in the Seribu Islands.
If there is anything that the vanishing islands has taught us
-- or should have taught us -- it's that all the various elements
that help sustain the environment are interlinked. The
cooperation of everyone concerned is needed to preserve the
natural environment. But straightening out the bureaucratic
clutter that hampers effective control is equally important.
It will take a good deal of work, not to mention concern and
idealism, to make our environmental protection program work. But
the result will be worth the trouble, for all of us and the
future.