Your Letters
Pavements for pedestrians
I have been visiting Indonesia since 1976, and for the most part, have ridden in chauffeur-driven cars. Very comfortable.
However, recently, and now, while I am awaiting the delivery of a car, I am a pedestrian. When are the town planners of Jakarta and other towns and cities going to wake up to the fact that this wonderful country is full of pedestrians? They get a rotten deal.
Billions are spent on road development with no apparent thought given to the pavement or the people on foot, who outnumber the cars.
Proper pavements would force the Mikrolet or other minibuses to keep to the road thereby avoiding weaving in and out of the traffic.
Life for the pedestrian would be much more comfortable if the bus stops were cleaned up, traffic control properly enforced in an orderly manner, and when that has been done, the authorities should then worry about open doors.
PHILIP HATCH-BARNWELL
Jakarta
Nuclear energy
In reference to your article Indonesia determined to go nuclear despite fierce criticism published on Tuesday, April 19, 1994, by Stephen Carr, I need to make the following comments:
1. The main reason why Indonesia has embarked on a policy for the diversification of energy, is because of the limited amount of renewable sources of energy available in Indonesia in the short and long run. This would depend on their economic and technological feasibility including environmental considerations that must be applied. "Inexpensive conventional sources of electricity" can also apply to nuclear energy whenever NPP is competitive, and the same applies to solar-voltaic cells, wind and other non-conventional sources. This is especially important for the island of Java and Bali, where most of Indonesia's energy is being consumed, and where an optimal energy mix is urgently needed, taking into considerations the level of the environmental impacts associated.
2. A nuclear power station may cost US$ 2 billion to build, while a coal fire plant is a little bit cheaper, but to run a NPP and a clean coal plant (including DESOX and DENOX) through its lifetime of 30 years and more, adding operation into the amount along with maintenance and fuel costs, then we can really see that a nuclear power plant is competitive to a coal fired plant.
3. "An independent regulatory agency" at this very moment is awaiting approval by the government. We also welcome this effort.
4. Aside from the human errors which were found to be the main cause of the Chernobyl accident, the Chernobyl plant itself lacked the safety features commonly found in reactors built by the U.S. and Europe.
The Chernobyl reactor design does not have any containment, but rather compartments which are not able to prevent the release of radioactivity from the reactor core. This is not the case with the U.S. and European designs, where the reactors are designed with containment, which is able to prevent the release of radioactivity into the environment in normal and accident situations. In the case of the TMI accident, the containment was able to prevent any release of radioactivity into the environment.
The Chernobyl reactor does not apply an inherent safety philosophy, which is the case with PWRs and BWRs designed by the U.S. and Europe. The characteristic of the Chernobyl reactor that is not inherent concerns the positive void coefficient, where the increase of fuel temperature will be followed by the increase of power due to the number of voids in the fuel. The U.S. and European designs apply the negative void coefficient.
5. However, the Chernobyl and also the TMI accident made the industry learn more from these accidents, and improve their designs much better, following high standards of safety and reliability.
In advanced designs, some efforts have been made to increase the safety, by among other, the increase of the standard and safety level of NPP to 10-4 of the Core melt frequency per year to less than 10-6 CMF per year (CMF of Chernobyl is 10-3 per year). Besides this, a passive safety philosophy is being applied, a lower work load by the operator is possible, and to anticipate operators' errors automation and improvements in ergonomics are made.
Indonesia will not be using designs like the Chernobyl Plant. The technology that will be used is technology in which safety comes first.
By using proven and reliable technology, supported by a sound operation and maintenance system, and where safety comes first, accidents like the Chernobyl accident hopefully will never happen again.
SOEKARNO SUYUDI
Director of Bureau for Public
Acceptance and Cooperation on
Science and Technology,
Jakarta
Stay in your dreams
World was closing-in, but only for a while.
Why won't it last, once for ever?
Strewn bodies, smoke-filled air, senseless killings, scary separatists. (It was Bosnia, then Rwanda and Yemen now!)
Sad story of Satan at his best!
The world isn't ready; it may never be free from greed, with only love to breed.
There's not any Eden, except in one's dreams.
So sleep, sleep, little ones, as long as you can.
For it could be long before you get to sleep again!
So sleep, sleep, sleep, and stay in your dreams!
A. KRISHNAN
Surabaya, E. Java
IDT program and poverty
From Tempo
Gunung Kidul, Yogyakarta, is one of Indonesia's poorest villages and is included in the IDT program (for the least developed villages).
I came to my home village, Gunung Kidul, recently and I found the villagers including my parents complaining about unnecessary fees; each family has to pay Rp 2,000 for buying administration equipment for the village officials, and Rp 10,000 is collected from each person for building a village hall.
Both the fees paid have not a direct impact on their income, on the contrary the rule has resulted in a decrease of their earnings.
The villagers paid the fees in the first three months of this year, and at the same time they had to pay tax for their land and buildings.
Prior to a village competition which will be hold in the near future, the villagers believe that they will be requested to donate their money to subsidize the festival. It is really hard for them because as farmers they have irregular income.
When I tried to ask about the IDT program, most of them refused to discuss it seriously. It seems that they have been bored of hearing of such a program.
For the villagers, the program, like other programs, is merely a slogan which will not change the situation. They have a strong reason for being skeptical. For instance, recently they have got some reservoirs and rice aid from Ministry of Social Services, but they never receive the rice and do not know where it went.
Listening to their complaints, I remember the polemic of the IDT program between Prof. Sayogyo and Prof. Mubyarto. As a scientist, Prof. Sayogyo is more realistic in analyzing it, but his counterpart Prof. Mubyarto as the creator of the program is very optimistic at the success of his program which costs billions of rupiah.
It will be better for the government and Prof. Mubyarto to dig much more information, especially the good will of village officials, before they enforce the very expensive program in the poorest villages.
If the program is not organized properly, I believe that the villagers will have to pay more money for something whose benefits are doubtful.
DARMANINGTYAS
Surabaya, E. Java
Presidential succession
From Forum Keadilan
The issue of the next presidential succession is widely discussed although President Soeharto has been in office for one year, in this current term.
A well-known analyst of the Indonesian social and political affairs, Prof. Donald W. Wilson, made an interesting statement about the requirements of a future president: he/she must be a Moslem, Javanese and member of the Armed Forces.
I absolutely do not agree with his version because the 1945 Constitution obviously states that: President of Republic of Indonesia must be a native Indonesian. It means that Javanese, Irianese, and other ethnic groups are eligible, as long as he has high qualities and skills and the most important thing is that people want him or her to become their leader.
The criterion for future presidents of this republic should be in line with article No. 6 and paragraph No. 1, of the 1945 Constitution. Whoever the president is, he/she must listen to and understand the people's aspirations.
SANUSI
Banda Aceh, Aceh
Do we need more organizations?
From Kompas
Many organizations grouping intellectuals have been founded recently. This makes me, and perhaps most Indonesians, confused. Why? The answer is a question:
What is the point of founding such organizations? Educational degrees and high positions in a bureaucracy or institution are not the only benchmark which shows that someone is an intellectual.
The duty of an intellectual or scholar is to think of what this country and society needs to maintain unity and to find a way to make the people clever and so on.
It would be better for all of us to dedicate our ability to our society and practice the values in the state ideology Pancasila, such as living side by side among our fellow citizens, who profess different religions, and are of different ethnic backgrounds and cultures. I think it is more realistic to express and strengthen our sense of nationality and more important than setting up an exclusive group which can break the unity and integrity of our nation.
My point is that in order to build a strong sense of nationality among our people and to make them clever, we don't need to join the Association of Indonesian Nationalist Intellectuals (ICKI), the Association of Indonesian Moslem Intellectuals (ICMI) or any other organization. Doing what each of us does best is surely enough. I believe that being both a journalist and lecturer, I am in a position to express concern about this republic.
BUDIARTO SHAMBAZY,
Jakarta