Damaged River Basins Almost Doubled From Last Year, Indonesian Forestry Ministry Says

Jakarta Post 16 Jun 09;

The number of river basins in the country that need rehabilitation has almost doubled since last year due to degradation of land quality, according to the Ministry of Forestry.

Indriastuti, the ministry’s director general for land rehabilitation and social forestry, said on Monday that a number of problems have caused damage to river basin areas, including arid land, the degradation of land fertility, an increase in erosion and poor water management.

However, she said the main factors causing damage to the basin areas were rapid population growth and lack of coordination in managing the areas.

Many government agencies manage river basin areas within their jurisdiction but fail to coordinate with one other. For example, one part of the Ciliwung river basin is managed by the Ministry of Forestry but the farming areas are managed by the Ministry of Agriculture.

“Plus, the Ministry of Public Works is also managing the dam, as is the local administration,” Indriastuti said.

According to Forestry Ministry data, the number of basins at risk rose from 60 in 2008 to 108 in 2009. There are about 3,245 river basins across the country.

“We need to consolidate river basin management with related agencies or ministries,” Indriastuti said. “Hopefully we can do so this year, depending on the budget.”

Revitalizing one river basin area, she said, requires centralized management and a large budget. For example, it would cost Rp 600 billion ($60 million) to revitalize the Solo river basin areas and Rp 800 billion to revitalize all river basin areas located in Jakarta, Bogor, Puncak and Cianjur.

Aside from leading to environmental disaster, damaged river basins can also increase the amounts of sediment in some dams, causing problems for nearby residents, Indriastuti said.

Some of the river basin areas in need of rehabilitation are Peusangan, Jambu Aye, Peureulak Tamiang in Aceh; Citarum, Ciliwung and Cisadane in West Java, Jakarta and Banten; Solo and Serayu in Central Java and Yogyakarta; and Remu, Arui and Prafi in West Papua.