Indonesian regency to curb rapid pace of deforestation

Indra Harsaputra, The Jakarta Post 2 Nov 09;

The Belitung regency administration in Bangka Belitung province will develop its tourism, agricultural and fishery sectors in a bid to curb the rapid pace of deforestation caused by extensive tin mining in the area.

Belitung Regent Darmansyah Husein said recently that to show its seriousness in developing the non-mineral sector, the local administration would allocate all of its development funds in the 2010 regency budget that was being formulated by legislative and executive institutions.

"Addressing the tin mining issue is no easy task, because a large percentage of the residents rely on the tin mining sector, which they deem as providing material benefits," Darmansyah told The Jakarta Post recently.

Based on the National Socio-Economic Survey in 2006, 30.6 percent of the 1,074,775 people living in the Bangka Belitung Islands province were engaged in the tin mining sector. Bangka Belitung Islands is the biggest tin producer in Indonesia, producing 70 percent of the annual national total production of 355,870 tons.

The main source of income for Bangka Belitung residents is tin mining, a resource in abundance in the area. Tin mining is currently Bangka Belitung's economic cash cow, contributing 21.32 percent to the gross regional product in 2006 (totalling Rp 15,856,661 million), compared to the agricultural sector which contributed 18.69 percent.

The remaining revenue came from the power, gas, clean water, trade, hotels, restaurants, communications and financial sectors, as well as other service industries.

"Aside from difficulties discouraging people from engaging in tin mining, the non-mineral sector in Bangka Belitung has not yet been developed because of human-resource limitations," Darmansyah said.

To boost the development human resources, he said, his office had set aside Rp 128.3 billion (US$12.8 million) - around 26 percent of the regency budget for 2010 (totalling Rp 492.9 billion).

"The funds are not part of the Schools Operational Assistance (BOS) funding allocated by the central government. The funds, derived from the 2010 regency budget, are aimed at improving teachers' welfare and standards, the restoration of education infrastructure and facilities, and scholarships for gifted students to continue their studies at higher-learning institutions," Darmansyah said.

Darmansyah added that the allocation was aimed at providing teachers with knowledge in information technology, in hope they could pass this on to students by 2012.

Until now the number of teachers with expertise in technology has been limited, he said.

"We also plan to open a number of vocational schools in the fields of agriculture, fisheries and tourism," he said.

Indra Ambalika Syari, an Environmental and ecosystem preservation researcher and observer from Bangka Belitung University, said it was high time the government got serious about stopping on and offshore tin mining operations because the activity had severely damaged the ecosystem.

"The traditional tin mines have led to deforestation and contaminated well water, while offshore mines operated by a number of companies (such as state-run PT Timah Tbk.) have threatened coral reefs, polluted the coast and beach resorts, and damaged fish breeding grounds," he said.

Offshore tin mines had caused a drop in fish catches and increased fishermen's costs as they now had to travel further in search of fish, Indra said.

Based on data from Bangka Belitung Tourism Office, the potential for fisheries resources in Bangka Belitung province, whose marine areas cover 65,301 square km, amounted to 499,500 tons annually, valued at Rp 2,497,500,000,000.

Besides fisheries resources, Bangka Belitung province, with coastlines stretching 1,200 km and as home to 251 smaller islands, is a strategic area for marine cultivation, including as fish, sea cucumbers, seaweed and clams.