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  Straits Times 13 Mar 07
Sand in your face, smoke in your eyes and a fistful of dollars
 Julia Suryakusuma

JAKARTA - WHEN Indonesia banned the export of sand to Singapore, it was one of those very rare moments when our civil society and government agreed on anything.

Mr Hermanjaya from Ocean Watch, for example, said sand mining in several areas, especially in the Riau islands, has caused the extinction of several fish species, the destruction of coral reefs and even the disappearance of a number of small islands.

But it is a case of too little, too late. Walhi, a leading NGO in Indonesia, says we are on the edge of ecological disaster.

Our appalling environmental record - inherited from former president Suharto's New Order, with its emphasis on economic and material development - is a reflection of our greed and our existential KKN - the ubiquitous, pervasive, ingrained national culture of corruption, collusion and nepotism.

Indonesia's rapid rate of environmental destruction is also a reflection of our stupidity: it is like burning our house down while we are still living inside!

So why do we do it? Because we are paid to.

The environmental destruction of Indonesia is something that investors have always been eager to put money into - lots and lots of money - and Indonesia will do almost anything to keep its battered economy afloat.

So it is a race to the bottom, to create risk, generate debt and guarantee environmental destruction to keep the national budget in place for another year. It would be funny if it were not so tragic.

And, of course, it is the company owners - mainly the local elite or foreign multinationals - who get to enjoy the profits, not our poor. And that often drives the people to do their own pillaging of the environment too, just to stave off the rumbling in their bellies.

Hence the recent boom in unregulated and chaotic small-scale illegal mining, logging and fishing. The result is that the level of forest destruction in this country - mainly through destructive and often illegal logging, industrial plantations and conversion of vast tracts of forest land into palm oil plantations - has reached 3.4 million hectares a year since 2002.

The good news? This year it is predicted to decrease to 2.8 million hectares. The bad news? This is simply because the forest area is decreasing.

We are running out of resources and our environment is disintegrating. According to Walhi, there were 135 ecological disasters - including floods, tsunamis, earthquakes, forest fires and harvest failures - last year. These claimed more than 10,000 lives, leaving over a one million homeless. Total losses reach tens or even hundreds of trillions of rupiah.

Indonesians love to play the blame game, but in this case blaming the government would be justified.

Policies? Weak and exploitative. Law enforcement? Weaker still. The authorities still have not charged any key people at the top management level of offending companies or organisations, just targeting the operational level. Even worse, courts have set illegal loggers free in more than 70 per cent of cases.

Political will of the government? Non-existent, or so it seems. The sand ban is little more than mere symbolism.

Mining is a good example. 'Mine thy neighbour' is the name of the game and the government has issued dozens of mining contracts in conservation areas across Indonesia. The controversies surrounding several foreign mining companies are so well known, I do not even have to mention names.

Our rivers? Many rivers in Java, Kalimantan, Sulawesi and Nusa Tenggara are now in a critical condition, with high levels of pollution and decreasing water volume because of exploitation of water catchment areas. In Jakarta, up to half of river pollutants come from industry, with about 2.2 million tonnes of toxic waste discharged into the rivers in Jakarta and West Java annually. About 73 per cent of well water in the city is contaminated by ammonia, and 13 per cent of well water in South Jakarta - where I live - is contaminated by mercury. So I am sticking to juice, thanks.

And the seas? Just as depressing. Only 6 per cent of the country's total of 60,000 sq km of coral reef is intact. Coastal erosion occurs in 60 locations in 17 provinces and only 30 per cent of our mangrove forests are in good condition.

Mangroves form a protective barrier against tsunamis. The next time you tuck into yummy tiger prawns, remember they probably came from prawn farms created by destroying vast tracts of coastal mangroves. Bon appetit.

Does anyone, anywhere care? Indonesia is roundly criticised for its annual forest fires, which create massive carbon emission pollution and haze, creating transport and health problems across South-east Asia.

Yes, our neighbours complain, but they do not seem to object to the plunder of our natural resources that contributes to this environmental destruction.

Malaysia, for example, is a big importer of timber sourced from illegal logging in Indonesia, one of the causes of the forest fires.

Yes, Indonesia needs to get its environmental act together, fast.

But the countries which benefit from the rape of Indonesia's resources also need to be part of the solution.

It is all about supply and demand, as usual. We are all connected, if not by land or even by sea, then by air, and hopefully by spirit. So let us look at saving our house, which is the global environment, and put our own immediate interests a little to the side, shall we?

What we need is a coordinated international approach, or at least a regional deal, to stop illegal and unsustainable resource exploitation throughout South-east Asia.
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