Jakarta – The North Sumatra chapter of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) believes the flash floods that have hit several areas recently were not solely the result of extreme weather.
Walhi North Sumatra Executive Director Rianda Purba said the floods were also the result of massive forest destruction and land conversion. According to Walhi's records, over the past 10 years 2,000 hectares of forest in North Sumatra have been damaged.
"The forest destruction there was caused, yes, triggered, yes, by several companies. So we deny the statement by North Sumatra Governor [Bobby Nasution] that the floods were due to extreme weather. But the main trigger was not this extreme weather, the main trigger was forest destruction and land conversion from forest to non-forest", said Purba at a press conference on Monday December 1.
He said the government's 2014 decision on the change in forest area status opened the door for companies to enter and damage the ecosystem in Bukit Batang Toru.
"Particularly the Batang Toru or Harangan Tapanuli ecosystem, this was arbitrarily changed from forest, its legal status changed to non-forest, to APL [other use areas]. Now, one of the reasons was Decree Number 579. Now, from there then a lot of investment flowed into the region of that ecosystem", he said.
On that occasion, Purba also stated that Walhi received a report regarding the situation in Kwala Serapuh Village, Langkat regency, which he said had not received any assistance. He added that flood victims in that area had not been registered by the government.
"They have been without food supplies for five days in Langkat. This is a coastal village that is also submerged, and it's often affected by tidal flooding, and then there's Besitang as well. So, they have no food supplies at all and have not been registered as flood victims in the Langkat area", he said.
The North Sumatra Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) previously recorded a rising number of victims from floods and landslides that hit several areas in the province as search and rescue operations continue to intensify.
"The total number of affected residents has now reached 360,216 families, or 1,358,348 people. Of that number, 226 people have been found dead and 188 are still missing", said Sri Wahyuni Pancasilawati, the had of the North Sumatra BPBD Emergency Response, Equipment and Logistics Division on Monday morning.
In addition to the fatalities, 603 people have been injured. The number of evacuees continues to increase as the risk remains high in several locations. (fra/yoa/fra)
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Walhi Bantah Cuaca Ekstrem Dalang Banjir Sumut: Kerusakan Hutan".]
