Tempe lake suffers from severe sedimentation

Andi Hajramurni, The Jakarta Post, Makassar

Lake Tempe in South Sulawesi was once called the "fish bowl of Indonesia". Today, as a result of chronic sedimentation caused by erosion and water plants, fishing is drying up.

The sediment piles on at a rate of five centimeters per year, causing the lake to shrink away in the dry season and overflow in the wet season.

Three regencies border the lake -- Wajo, Soppeng and Sidenreng Rappang. Wajo, in particular, is at risk from seasonal floods which threaten thousands of private and public buildings.

Once the lake was 30,000 hectares in area and 10,000 meters deep. Now, Tempe is never larger than 10,000 hectares and shrinks to 1,000 hectares with a maximum depth of two meters in the dry season.

The Wajo regency administration and several environmental organizations say the lake may remain only a memory in future years.

Nine rivers flow into the lake and sedimentation is attributed to upstream erosion. The condition is worsened by household waste and the rampant growth of water hyacinth, called eceng gondok.

Wajo environmental agency head Andi Tenri Lengka explained the Eceng gondok speeds up sedimentation because dead plants accumulate under water instead of rotting. They choke the lake during rainy season and are still there when it dries out.

While eceng gondok is sometimes suitable for handicrafts, the Tempe variety is not, Lengka said.

Tempe's receding shoreline bodes ill for fish including bungo, biawang and bete-bete. A handful of other species are hanging on.

In the 1960s, Lengka said, the lake produced some 50,000 of fish per year, which helped feed the country's prison population. Today only about 10,000 tons are caught annually.

"We could catch a lot of fish easily (even) during the dry season, several years ago. Now, it is not easy to find them," said Wahid, a fisherman.

Most local fishermen have had to start farming when the lake dries up, sowing corn and soya beans on the lake bottom.

Lengka said he welcomed solutions to the environmental disaster from whatever quarter.

Wajo administration mitigation efforts include excavation of Cenrenae River and attempts to channel rainy season overflows into smaller lakes and rivers in the Tempe drainage.

Lengka said the administration needed Rp 43 billion (US$4.70 million) to implement its programs and hoped the province and central government would help.

Paving the way to get plastic out of rivers

The Jakarta Post

The rainy season is back! Even though we've only had pre-dawn showers down here at the coast, there are telltale signs on the beach of the deluge in the hills: Plastic wrappers, bottles and rubber sandals are blending in with seaweed, bits of trees and blobs of bitumen. Water is the only reliable cleaning service around here, but she's got to deliver the junk somewhere.

Cleaning and waste disposal is not a sexy topic with local government (yet). This could change if voters demand the service, but for now local government prefer spending their budget on larger commissions, visible high profile projects involve procuring big things: The 16 billion rupiah seawall on our beach, for instance.

Actively trying to ignore the dance and sound intrusion of the three mechanical swans packing giant boulders that crunch and crackle into a sloping seawall, I hardly notice the debris left by the outgoing tide. Preoccupied with cloud formations and the glimmering horizon, our willful dogs tugging at their leash jerk me back to the present.

And onto a sharp shard. I've a hole in my footgiving the burning signs of an infection. As I write, I'm soaking it in warm brine to soften the thick skin before opening it up to clean and disinfect with 70% alcohol. There's a silver lining to this monsoon cloud. This column is due and I can't walk away from this desk for a while.

There are not enough landfills to accept the waste we produce. Rubbish collection is unreliable. In Bali, even municipal rubbish collection trucks resort to dumping into rivers. Up in the hills locals and businesses often dump their waste into ravines to get it out of sight. Once the rains start, this all gets flushed downhill. The debris regularly clogs drains and causes flooding, which is a nuisance to all, but most persist in their habits because of a perception that there is no alternative.

Rivers flow to the sea carrying a wealth of waste. A lot of it is recyclable. There must be an alternative, wouldn't you agree? Imagine yourself as a primary school student at a rural village in Bali sitting your end of year exams. Here is a question from previous years that touches on sanitation: "What is the correct method of disposing your plastic rubbish?"

The exam is multiple choice, so take a pick: (a) Throw it in the river, (b) Burn it, (c) Bury it, or (d) None of the above. Sorry, recycling hasn't quite made it to the school curriculum yet. Obviously we've got to find other options for `none of the above' but for the time being, if you want to ace that exam, the correct answer according to the marking schedule is (b) Burn it.

According to recent studies, plastics can remain as long as 4500 years in the environment.

Dry plastic burns beautifully like wax candles, but it's the carcinogenic dioxins, furans and styrene readily absorbed through lungs and skin I'm worried about.

Household burning of rubbish can increase the risk of heart disease, aggravate respiratory ailments such as asthma and emphysema, and cause rashes, nausea, or headaches. It can damage the nervous system, kidney or liver, and also has a detrimental effect to the reproductive and development systems.

I happen to be one of those hippies who refuse unnecessary plastic bags to the bemusement, amusement or utter confusion and blank disbelief of denizens of checkout counters. A ban on the use of plastic, however, is likely to be futile. Indonesia is too `democratic' -- for lack of a better word -- to be able to enforce such a rule.

The risks to health and safety through increased chances of damage or contamination would also be so great that it would be irresponsible to ban plastic without offering a feasible economic alternative.

As Indian Physicist S. S. Verma puts it, the crux of the issue is more "the judicious use and re-use of plastic".

It's early days of trials yet, but in an article titled "Roads from plastic waste" in India's The Tribune S.S. Verma boasts how roads made of bitumen mixed with plastic can carry heavier loads and can last at least twice as long as their bitumen-only cousins.

The trial plastic roads in India use mainly plastic carry-bags, disposable cups and polyethylene (PET) bottles that are collected from garbage dumps as ingredient material. Mixed with hot bitumen, the plastics melt to form an oily coat over the aggregate and the mixture is laid on the road surface like a normal tar road.

Research has found that shredded plastic waste can act as a strong binding agent for tar, making the asphalt last longer. These plastic roads withstand hotter temperatures on sunny days without melting.

Reducing the porosity of the road, the use of plastic could reduce water-damage to roads, saving money from road repairs. Verma estimates that each km of road with an average width requires over two tons of polyblend.

Wonderful: yet another use for plastic. We know the stuff is valuable, is it time to for a concerted effort to collect and reuse it?

Kadek Krishna Adidharma can be reached at kadek@adidharma.net

Govt to revitalize lakes, rivers

The Jakarta Post

BOGOR: The government is allocating Rp 850 billion (US$95 million) to revitalize rivers and lakes in Greater Jakarta and will order developers to stop constructing buildings in such areas.

"If we interrupt any part of the lakes and waterways, it would have an impact to the whole system," said Public Works Minister Joko Kirmanto after signing a joint agreement on the revitalization plan with Forestry Minister Malam Sambat Kaban and Agriculture Minister Anton Apriyantono.

The plan was launched in Situ Cikaret, Bogor, in West Java to commemorate National Water Day.

The Forestry Ministry is also planning to replant 110,000 hectares of land under the program

House OKs funds for flood control programs

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The House of Representatives and the central government have agreed to fund a range of projects to provide long-term flood-protection for thousands of families.

The projects include the construction of dams, lakes and the East Flood Canal, as well as the revitalization of rivers.

"Funding has been allocated in the state budget for multiyear commitments until 2009," Akhmad Muqowam, who sits on House of Representatives Commission V for public works, said Monday during a hearing.

"High priority projects will be listed when budget adjustments are made mid this year."

For the East Flood Canal project, the central government -- through the Public Works Ministry -- has agreed to fund the canal's construction, while the city administration is responsible for the land acquisition process.

The project, which is scheduled for completion by 2010, requires a total investment of Rp 3.8 trillion. The canal will cut through Cipinang, Sunter and Cakung rivers.

The ministry has proposed the central government allocate Rp 2 trillion for construction work, with the Jakarta administration contributing the remaining Rp 1.8 trillion.

Public Works Minister Djoko Kirmanto said the construction itself needed Rp 2.5 trillion.

Governor Sutiyoso, who also attended the hearing Monday, said the administration was aiming to acquire all land for the project by the end of the year.

"We will focus on the East Flood Canal project, and hopefully the land acquisition process will be over before Jakarta has a new governor," said Sutiyoso who finishes his term in August.

As of today, only a 7.7-kilometer stretch of the 23.7-km canal has been completed.

For the construction of dams, including those located outside the city, the Jakarta administration will cooperate with West Java and Banten provinces.

More than 80 people died in last month's floods, which affected between 45-75 percent of the city. Sixty-five others died of flood-related illnesses, including leptospirosis, a disease spread by rats.

Besides the flood recovery projects, the city administration is also planning to relocate 71,000 families from riverbanks to low-cost apartments built by the Public Housing Ministry.

Public Housing Minister Muhammad Yusuf Asyari said the ministry would build 725 apartment blocks at a total cost of Rp 6.5 trillion. Each block could accommodate 100 families.

City 'can't go it alone' on flood control master plan

Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

It is now one of the most frequently put questions: "Does the Jakarta administration have a drainage and flood mitigation master plan?"

The answer is, yes.

"But it's been difficult to materialize ... We expected the central government to take it over," city secretary Ritola Tasmaya said Thursday during a meeting with the Regional Representatives Council.

The master plan -- consisting of a land-structuring control system; drainage system repair; sluice gate and artificial lake construction; river dredging and the relocation of riverside residential areas -- was drafted in 2002, after a huge flood hit the city.

Besides the difficulties of putting the plan into practice without the full support of the administrations of the upland cities of Bogor, Depok, Tangerang and Bekasi, the plan was delayed due to the change of government in 2004, Ritola said.

He said the project, which required a total investment of Rp 18.2 trillion, should be taken over by the central government to spare it from the same fate as the East Flood Canal project, which was initially scheduled for completion this year, but was delayed until 2010 due to unforeseen problems, including budget cuts and the complicated process of land acquisition.

The drainage plan was drafted more than 20 years ago, but it focuses only on releasing floodwater as fast as possible into the sea.

The plan, made available to The Jakarta Post, shows the 13 rivers that run through the river blocked by huge canals that stop them from reaching low-lying areas.

The drainage system includes the Dutch-built West Flood Canal, the East Flood Canal and Cengkareng Drain.

"The canals would intercept floodwater from all rivers before it reached low-lying areas," said I Gede Nyoman Soewandi, the head of the Jakarta Public Works Agency's water resources development division.

The reconstruction of the more than 60-year-old canals will increase their capacity, he added.

The master plan, reworked by the Japan International Cooperation Agency, shows the only way to utilize rainwater for the purposes of effective urban water control is to protect lakes in southern Jakarta.

Asked whether the administration would revise the master plan due to the sharp decrease in water catchment areas both in Jakarta and its supporting regions, I Gede Nyoman acknowledged the administration was facing difficulties in realizing it.

"Even if we landscaped a one-kilometer stretch of the river, there would be a five-km section that had been damaged by human activity. That's why we've set no deadline for realizing the plan.

"The riverbanks are getting more crowded, forcing land prices up. The rivers have lost their ability to reestablish their natural functions"

The total length of rivers in the city is about 500 km.

The administration has conceded being late to establish drainage strategies to accommodate the volume of water entering the city from upland areas.

Only 2.9 percent of Jakarta has been utilized for its drainage system, lower than the recommended 8 percent.

Environmentalists say the lack of green space in the city has increased the flood risk.

Green areas account for 5,911 hectares or 9 percent of city land.

The administration plans to make 9,544 hectares, or 13.94 percent of city land, open and green space by 2010.

Governor Sutiyoso said the diminishing catchment areas in Bogor, Puncak and Depok had also contributed to the recent flood, which left 70 percent of the capital under water.