GOVT URGED TO CANCEL RAILWAY PROJECT IN NATIONAL PARK

Bengkulu, April 4 (ANTARA) - The Indonesian Environmental Forum, Walhi, called on the government to cancel its plan to construct a coal railway line that would pass through the Bukit Barisan National Park (TNBBS) in Sumatra.

"The plan is against the law because it will convert a protected forest area in the Nanti Ulu Ogan and TNBBS regions," Walhi's campaign manager for Bengkulu and South Sumatra, Yuliusman, said here over the weekend.
The planned 168-km coal railway line would run from Linau port in Bengkulu to Tanjung Enim in South Sumatra with a 31-km stretch passing through the TNBBS.
Yuliusman said the project, if carried out, would violate Law No. 5 / 1990 on Natural Resources Conservation and Government Regulation in lieu of Law No. 19 / 2004, which was an amendment of Law No. 41 / 1999 on Forestry.
He said that based on Walhi's investigation, the project would run through Ogan Komering Ulu (OKU) and OKU Selatan districts. "We have found pioneer lines for the railway tracks with poles already erected," he said.
Yuliusman said the project would affect several villages, including the TNBBS area which serve as upstream areas of the Ogan, Laham and Lengkayap rivers.
He said that the local governments of the two provinces, Bengkulu and South Sumatra, should cancel the plan because it would do more harm than good for the local people.