Airport road project could worsen city’s floods : NGOs
Written by Writer on Thursday, October 23rd, 2008
Airport road project could worsen city’s floods: NGOs
The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Thu, 10/23/2008 11:04 AM | City
Jakarta should brace for even stronger flooding this rainy season after forest in the north of the city was cleared to make way for a road project, a group of NGOs said Wednesday.
The NGOs called a press conference to draw attention to the destruction of 19 hectares of mangrove forest on the northern shore of the city cut so the toll road to the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport could be widened and elevated.
“We urge the authority to stop this project and replace the destroyed forest,” said Selamet Daroyni from the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi).
Eight NGOs protested the activity on the government’s Sedyatmo toll road in the hope of preventing floods. The eight organizations included the Environmental Task Force, the Indonesian Consumer Agency (YLKI), the Indonesian Center for Environmental Law (ICEL) and the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH).
Selamet said the project would worsen flooding in the capital and the fishermen who rely on the mangrove forest for their livelihoods would suffer.
PT Jasa Marga, the toll road operator, commenced the project a few months ago in an attempt to prevent annual flood damage, which affects the airport roadway during the rainy season.
The groups said more than 19 hectares of mangrove forest had been cleared for the 3 km stretch of road and more would be cut down before the project was finished.
Ahmad Safruddin from the Environment Task Force said Jasa Marga should replace the destroyed mangrove forest by planting trees in nearby locations.
“Our mangrove forest is dwindling day by day. We had more than 1,100 hectares of mangrove forest during the Dutch colonial period. That number is getting smaller and smaller because of the development of houses and roads,” said Ahmad.
The environment organizations believe that currently Jakarta has only 70 hectares of mangroves left.
Tulus Abadi from YLKI said the government should give priority to the planned railway project to the airport.
Jasa Marga corporate secretary, Okke Marlina, said the company had prepared a plot of land in another location to replace the destroyed mangrove forest.
“This is the jurisdiction of the forestry agency and public work agencies. We were just hired to reconstruct the toll road. But I know we had prepared it (the land) already,” Okke said to The Jakarta Post.
The toll road has been flooded a number of times in the past, paralyzing access to the country’s main airport and causing the delays for passengers and the cancellation of hundreds of flights. (naf)
