Asia Times: Indonesia has to share blame as Mother Nature vents fury


	February 22, 2001	atimes.com

Southeast Asia

Indonesia must share blame over nature's fury
By Kafil Yamin

JAKARTA - Unusually heavy rains in Indonesia in recent weeks forced the lava dome of Mount Merapi to collapse this month, causing the volcano to burst lava and force hundreds of villages nearby to flee. On the same day as the February 10 eruption of Merapi, one of Indonesia's most active volcanoes in Central Java, 45 people were killed and tens of thousands became homeless after floods and erosion hit various places in west Java.

Erosions occurred in four districts and floods turned two areas into a huge lake. "It's an extraordinary flood this time. It's a real disaster," said Hakamuddin Djamal, governor of Banten province in west Java, pointing at the 18-meter high waters there. He added that the floods have devastated 11,300 hectares of paddy fields and drowned 102 villages with some 65,000 houses.

Experts say the spate of unusual weather phenomenon Indonesia has been experiencing recently, heavy rains, floods and strong winds, is no fluke. While weather officials attribute the abnormal levels of rainfall and heavy winds to global changes in weather, experts say they are due as well to man-made destruction of the environment.

In the case of heavy floods and waters, Sampurno, a geological expert at the Bandung Institute of Technology, said: "Hills have been blasted here and there. Rivers have been silting up due to sedimentation. So there are not enough walls to block the water and enough channels for them to flow."

He says hills function as natural walls to protect surrounding areas from strong winds. "Now that the walls have been broken, we could just get the consequences," Sampurno said, adding that to blame the present calamities to nature alone is foolishness.

Even if Indonesians were to point the finger at global weather changes, Sampurno says, Indonesia remains at least partly responsible because the warming of the Earth has also been caused by forest destruction in the world's largest archipelago.

Data at the Association of the Indonesian Timber Panel shows that until earlier this year, 20 million hectares of natural forest have been badly damaged. The 20-million hectare forests in Kalimantan and Papua in eastern Indonesia have become grass areas due to overexploitation and illegal cutting of trees.

The Indonesian Forest Society (MPI) of South Kalimantan, in northern Indonesia, says forest destruction has worsened in the last two years. According to MPI secretary Dehen Binti, illegal loggers are now committing their crimes in public. "It does not make any sense that the police and the authorities do not do something about it," he complained. "If things continues as they are, the forests in South Kalimantan will disappear in five years."

Meanwhile, the Indonesian Meteorology and Geophysics Agency has forecast that heavy rain and strong winds will continue until the end of February. Java, where Jakarta is located, Sulawesi and Nusatenggara in the east, and southern part of Sumatra toward the west would be particularly affected by rain and wind, Gunawan Ibrahim, the chief of the agency, said. He warned people in these areas to stay alert.

The unusual weather continues to take its toll. In Tangerang regency, a suburb of Jakarta, at least 10 villages submerged after a dike of Cidurian river broke up recently. Water levels rose to 50 centimeters, forcing local residents to leave their homes. Around 5,000 hectares of paddy fields were submerged.

Floods also ruined homes in central Sulawesi in eastern Indonesia and heavy flows of muddy water from hills and mountains caused erosion in several places over the weekend. Winds have caused larger than usual waves in several areas, including the Sunda Strait that separates Java and Sumatra islands. It has already caused delays in a number of ferry crossings.

Meanwhile, tidal waves have been reported to hit coastal areas of Kupang, Nusatenggara and south Sulawesi, destroying houses and burying fishing boats under piles of sand carried by high waves. Tornadoes have also hit three regencies in south Sulawesi, destroying many houses.

"Some areas in the east [of Indonesia] will be under the threat of big storms in several weeks," said Lapan Bidawi Hasyim, an official of local meteorology and geophysics. Strong waves have also kept fishing boats idle, affecting livelihoods of people.

"We attempted to go fishing this morning, but it had been only a half mile when we decided to return. Waves were very high," said Ashari, a 45-year-old fisherman in North Semarang district.

Sriyanto, an official at the Semarang port in east Java island, said the wind's speed had reached 40-50 kilometers per hour. He added that at this speed, the wind could create waves three to five meters high.

(Inter Press Service)

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©2001 Asia Times Online Co., Ltd.