[Kabar-indonesia] RI environmentalists slam govt over palm oil PR fund [+Ambon mangroves]

[JoyoNews at aol.com]

also: JP: Housing development threatens Ambon mangrove forest 

The Jakarta Post
Thursday, August 3, 2006

Government slammed over palm oil fund 

Tb. Arie Rukmantara, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Environmental groups are criticizing the government for setting aside funds 
to 
counter a public relations campaign against its extensive palm oil plantation 
projects.

They said the money would be better spent on efforts to overhaul the 
country's oil palm industry, such as increasing the quality of the product rather than 
its quantity, and promoting the use of better seedlings rather than expanded 
planting to increase output. 

"It (the improved system) should include establishing proper spatial 
planning, halting the conversion of forests, and ensuring the rights of local people 
to sustainable livelihoods," said Sawit Watch deputy director Abet Nego 
Tarigan. 

Last month, Indonesia and Malaysia agreed to allocate 500,000 euro (US$639,7) 
to counter campaigns launched by non-governmental organizations against the 
expansion of palm oil plantations in the two countries. 

The deal was signed in Medan, North Sumatra, by Indonesian Agriculture 
Minister Anton Apriyanto and Malaysian Plantation Industries and Commodities 
Minister Peter Chin Fah Kui. 

Both ministers said the move was prompted by what they called the unfounded 
accusations of local and foreign NGOs, who argue palm oil plantations have 
damaged the environment and contributed to the destruction of the two countries' 
remaining natural forests. 

Indonesia and Malaysia now account for 84 percent of the world's crude palm 
oil production and 88 percent of global exports. 

According to the Indonesian Palm Oil Producers Association, Indonesia makes 
15 million tons of crude palm oil and two million tons of palm kernel oil 
annually, making it the world's biggest palm oil producer. 

The palm oil industry contributed over US$6 billion to Indonesia's economy 
last year. It employed from 1.5 to two million people, working for more than 200 
companies on more than five million hectares of land across the archipelago. 

The government plans to open three million more hectares to palm oil farming 
by 2009. 

Environmentalists have strongly opposed the expansion of palm oil 
plantations, saying the slash-and-burn method used to clear the land would trigger 
massive forest fires that could send hazardous haze to parts of Indonesia and 
neighboring countries. 

The Riau provincial administration recently accused two palm oil plantation 
firms of causing forest fires on some 3,000 hectares of the province's land, 
including a protected forest, which later caused haze over Malaysia and 
Thailand. 

Mina Susana Setra of the Indigenous People's Alliance of West Kalimantan said 
the government was wasting money on the campaign. 

The move also would likely spark protests from the international community, 
which discussed the negative impacts of palm oil plantations in the recent 
United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII), she added. 

She said delegates of the 5th UNPFII session in New York in late May urged 
Indonesia not to move ahead with the plan to expand its palm oil plantations, 
which they said would sacrifice the livelihoods of indigenous people who rely on 
the forests. 

"We've also requested the forum send a special rapporteur to Indonesia to 
learn the impacts of existing large plantations on indigenous people here," she 
said. 

However, Indonesian Palm Oil Producers Association Chairman Derom Bangun 
defended the government's move, saying "bad publicity can only be countered by 
good publicity". 

"Not all of the accusations are true. Yes, there is a problem, but we've been 
trying to improve our performance by upholding the principles of benefiting 
the people, the planet, and profit," he said. 

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The Jakarta Post
Thursday, August 3, 2006

Housing development threatens Ambon mangrove forest 

M. Azis Tunny, The Jakarta Post, Ambon

A mangrove forest in Teluk Ambon Baguala district, Maluku, is threatened by 
severe sedimentation as a result of construction of the Bukit Lateri Indah 
housing complex, observers warn.

The construction, carried out by developer PT Modern Multiguna, has damaged 
about 45 hectares of mangrove forest in a preservation area near Paso and 
Lateri villages, the observers say. 

Controversy over the housing project began as far back as 1997, during its 
planning stage. Hundreds of Lateri residents protested the developer for failing 
to offer compensation for community-owned farms affected by construction in 
the area, which is home to a number of different mangrove species. 

In 2004 the company began using heavy machinery to clear land for the 
project, despite the continued protests by residents who felt they were being 
deprived of their rights. 

Since construction work began, say observers, signs of the environmental 
damage allegedly resulting from the work have been apparent. Every rainy season, 
the pace of erosion has quickened, with the soil flowing into the sea and 
silting up Dalam Bay in Ambon. 

>From 2004 to the middle of 2006, sedimentation covered much of the productive 
mangrove forest from Lateri to the Paso preservation area. 

The extent of destruction worsened last month when the rainy season was at 
its height in Ambon. In a matter of hours, hundreds of cubic meters of mud 
poured into the bay from the project site, around 700 meters from the coast. 

A recipient of the Kalpataru and Setyalencana development awards, Dominggus 
Loudrik Sinanu, who has dedicated his life to planting and taking care of the 
mangrove trees along the Lateri beach up to Paso, expressed anger with the 
housing developer for ignoring the environmental impact of its project. 

"I warned them not to build houses on the hill due to the negative impacts it 
might have on the area," Sinanu told The Jakarta Post recently. 

Mud as thick as 1.5 meters has covered hundreds of mangrove trees and damaged 
the surrounding area. If something is not done, the mangrove forest could be 
completely lost. 

"The government should pay serious attention to this matter to prevent 
further damage," Sinanu said. 

He added that fishermen in the area were facing the loss of their livelihood 
because of the loss of the fish that use the shallows of the mangrove forest 
to breed. 

Based on an aerial assessment performed in August 1985, the mangrove forest 
in Dalam Bay spanned about 59.5 hectares, stretching from Tawiri to Poka, 
Waiheru, Kate-Kate and Lateri, with Waiheru and Paso being the areas with the 
densest growth. 

An inventory of the mangrove trees in the area found there are 17 mangrove 
tree species in the forest, which is dominated by the Sonneratia species and two 
coastal tree varieties. 

Head of the environmental group the Arman Foundation, Haulussy, said PT 
Modern Multiguna should be immediately required to perform dredging work in the 
area to save the mangrove trees. 

"It's their responsibility. They could be imprisoned and fined hundreds of 
millions of rupiah if they disregard the matter," Haulussy asserted. 

He said development on a small island like Ambon should not be compared with 
work on larger islands, because any environmental damage on a small island has 
the potential to massively disrupt the lives of residents. 

"Forced development around a protected area will have unfavorable impacts. 
The government should review the building project," he said. 

According to Haulussy, the size of the mangrove forest in Ambon's bay ranges 
between 47 and 51 hectares, including 41 hectares located in the Paso 
preservation area. 

Haulussy demanded the provincial office of the Environmental Impact Control 
Agency be held responsible for the matter, since it issued an environmental 
impact analysis (Amdal) certificate and a permit to the housing developer to 
carry out the project. 

Criticism also has come from Ambon municipal councillor Husein Toisuta, who 
insisted the government immediately revoke the Amdal certificate issued to the 
developer. 

"The Dalam Bay coastal area, especially the mangrove forest ... has obviously 
been affected by sedimentation," said Husein, who heads the commission on 
city planning, sanitation and environmental affairs at the municipal council. 

The head of the environmental impact analysis department at the Ambon 
Sanitation and City Planning Office, Roy Hutubessy, when questioned by the Post, said 
the office had asked PT Modern Multiguna to stop expanding the housing 
project, and urged the developer to protect the three river delta areas affected by 
sedimentation as a result of land clearance and construction work. 

"Soil eroding from the hill and project site has flowed through three nearby 
rivers and affected the ecosystem around Ambon bay," he said. 

He said field observations indicated the company had only restored one of the 
affected areas. 

The management of PT Modern Multiguna could not be reached for comment. 

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Joyo Indonesia News Service
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