Walhi to appeal Ladia Galaska ruling

P.C. Naommy, Jakarta

The Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) is planning to appeal a district court ruling that dismissed its lawsuit against the government over the controversial Ladia Galaska road project.

In the ruling on Saturday, judges at the Banda Aceh District Court said that Walhi had not presented hard evidence that the road project would cause environmental damage within the Leuser National Park, Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam province.

The panel of judges also opined that the lawsuit was not clear, as Walhi had said the project started in 2002, while, in fact, it had been officiated a year later.

Bambang Antariksa, an executive of Walhi's Aceh office lashed out at the verdict on Monday, saying that it was contradictory.

"It is ridiculous, the court overturned the lawsuit over the date of the project's officiation. We will file an appeal," he said.

Bambang said the court's argument -- that the project had not been officiated in 2002 -- was baseless. He said that work on a section of the road (that was part of the project) had been mentioned in the governor's accountability report, which was presented before the Aceh legislature in 2002.

"It comes down to the project's officiation -- a trivial matter," Bambang said.

He further argued that the project should be canceled as no Amdal (feasibility study) had been submitted until 2003. According to Government Regulation No. 27/1999, a project that has major environmental repercussions must be preceded by an Amdal.

Bambang also challenged the court's statement that Walhi had not proved the project would cause ecological losses. The planned Ladia Galaska road network cuts through hundreds of kilometers of protected forest areas in the province.

"We used qualified expert witnesses, who were able to predict environmental damage, and who spoke according to their expertise -- and not under the pressure of a certain group's interests," said Bambang.

An expert witness on geology from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), Eko Soebowo, for example, had said during the trial that six of the nine planned roads ran parallel to the Sumatra fault line, which made them prone to earthquakes, landslides, and other damage.

Environmentalists in Indonesia and abroad are particularly concerned about the project's impact on the Leuser ecosystem. Some 100.16 kilometers of the road would cut through protected forest and 1.5 kilometers through conservation areas, including the Leuser ecosystem.

Geologist Eko Soebowo of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) has said six of the nine planned routes in the project would cross the Sumatra fault line and would thus be prone to earthquakes, landslides and collapse.

The Ministry of Settlement and Regional Infrastructure had said the road should link the eastern and western coasts of the province to stimulate the rural economy of the western Aceh coast.

The first stage of construction involves laying down 47 kilometers of road to connect remote Lhok Seumot, West Aceh, which has a population of 1,500, to Beutong Ateuh, a subdistrict in West Aceh.

In the second stage of construction, 35 kilometers of road will connect the people of Ceulala, a district in Central Aceh, to the Central Aceh capital of Takengon.