Jakartass Home thoughts from abroad. Alien thoughts from home.

We took a ride in one of the environmentally friendly compressed natural gas (CNG) fueled blue bajajs yesterday.  It cost a couple of thousand rupiah more than the ancient Indian imports which pollute our back streets with noise and noxious fumes, but the comfort, both for we passengers and, more importantly, the driver, was worth it.

That the Jakarta government is now seemingly serious in ridding the streets of the old ones, by next year they say, is to be applauded.

But … and there's always a 'but' in Indonesia … , this programme, part of a so-called Blue Sky initiative, was first promulgated over three years ago and, even now, the Jakarta Transportation Agency is taking no responsibility for the next steps of the transition.

Problem number one is that most bajaj drivers rent their vehicles and the new blue ones are still subject to a 45 percent “luxury goods” tax and are therefore a darn sight more expensive. Those drivers who own their own will face going into debt or returning to their home villages where casual work may well be more scarce than here in Jakarta.

Secondly, CNG is only sold at six fuel pumps in Jakarta (or is it five?). The government plans to construct 26 CNG stations in Jakarta "starting" this year but in the meantime the state-owned fuel company Pertamina has plans to provide four mobile-tanker CNG stations, each expected to carry around 6,000 liters of CNG, which is enough to fill the tanks of 50 buses.

Yes, drivers of the new bajajs will be queuing up behind the 520 (as of the end of last year) TransJakarta Busway buses in operation. There may be a few taxis in the queue, but not having seen a Kosti Jaya for a while, it may be that they are no longer operating, and any that were fueled by CNG, such as Blue Bird, have apparently reverted to regular petroleum.

Why is it that the powers-that-be lack the foresight to peer beyond their squat noses and think of the consequences of their decisions? How often do we read of decisions not being turned into deeds and policy U-turns?

And why did none of them read my post from six years ago when I first advocated an environmentally safe replacement for the bajaj: an electric version with rechargeable batteries such as used in the UK for some fifty years. It's little known that in the early days of motoring, there were more electric vehicles than there were gasoline-powered cars.

Of course, as some would correctly argue, tapping into the power grid to recharge batteries entails accessing electricity produced by fossil fuels. However, there is still a positive outcome: the vehicles do not themselves produce noxious fumes which contribute to global warming.

Now, taking the notion a step, and six years, further, there is yet another alternative: a solar powered.people carrier with batteries recharged from solar-panels fitted on the roof.

Erm, maybe not. Those solar panels would only produce 400 or 800 watts, enough to power a small fan.

But, what if a car port were fitted with solar panels which would recharge replaceable batteries?

The good news is that the state electricity company PLN seems to be committed to building a number of solar power plants (PLTS) on 100 islands of Indonesia. Dahlan Iskan, Chief Director of PLN, said that the construction will be completed by the end of the year.

These power plants would serve local needs, and could be just as useful in local areas of Jakarta, particularly if some of their megawattage were specifically allocated for electric vehicles.

All we need now is for some bright spark in PLN – no pun intended – to read this post, liaise with those creative souls in Solo who've developed an Indonesian 'people carrier' (but not yet anything remote from the internal combustion engine), and the faculty of the engineering school of Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta who designed this electric golf buggy for campus use.

Then Sparky* needs to liaise with the Jakarta Transportation Agency to find someone with integrity willing to work for a salary without the usual perks who would oversee the development of the infrastructure for electric vehicles whilst attracting government funding and, hey presto, we'd have a socially viable form of transport quietly plying our streets.

I really didn’t expect to return to a topic covered just a few days ago, but what I have learned since adds yet another dimension to my central thesis: coal mining at the behest of rapacious businesses, with their political cohorts cashing in, is a disaster for Indonesia.

Asia Calling is a regional current affairs programme produced by Indonesia’s independent radio news agency KBR68H, and a partner of Tempo TV and Green Radio (89.2FM). It broadcasts in local languages to 10 countries across Asia, and its website is in Indonesian, English, Bangla, Khymer and Urdu.

Quinawaty Pasaribu, one of their reporters, recently visited Muarojambi village in Jambi Province, south east Sumatra, site of the last seat of the Sriwijaya kingdom.

The Muarojambi Buddhist temples were built in the 14th century and were only rediscovered, overgrown with vegetation, in 1974. Last September the President visited Muarojambi and promised to declare it a protected world heritage site: the temples are in line for UNESCO World Cultural Heritage listing.

Every historically-significant site in Indonesia is protected by the national 2010 Cultural Heritage Law which provides sentences of up to 15 years and fines as high as US$100,000 for anyone who destroys or sells parts of important sites. But the law is still not in force because President Yudhoyono has not signed regulations needed to put it into effect.

The site covers a massive 12 square kilometres which makes it the biggest in Southeast Asia, even larger than Java’s Borobudur temple, or Angkor Wat in Cambodia, and much of the complex still awaits excavation, but is already under threat. 

In 2010, the military built a road which encroached on the area, but after negotiations, the project was halted before too much damage was done. 

But coal mining, the biggest business in the local area, now threatens to damage the temples beyond repair. More than 300 coal mining companies operate in the province and most of them stockpile coal around the nearby Muaro Jambi village before loading it onto boats on the Batanghari river near the village to send to India.

So far 11 major temples have been restored, just six percent of the whole site – dozens more temples are still buried under mounds of soil called “menapos”, which are all under threat from surrounding coal stockpiles.

Five mining companies, which have been operating since 2009 with permission from the local government, use the temple area to stockpile coal before exporting it overseas. Company security guards watch the area, and ask for entry permits from anyone who wants to enter the temple compound.

The threat from the coal mining industry is twofold: acid from the coal pollutes the river and seriously damages relics still buried underground and particles of coal dust also work their way into the temples’ rock and get stuck inside.

But it’s not just the temples that suffer. The temple complex land isn’t only used by coal companies – thousands of people live there and also complain about the coal dust: “The coal trucks pass by everyday here, hundreds of them. We inhale the dust, it makes us feel unwell.”

Coal dust can cause pneumoconiosis and other respiratory diseases.

Burhanuddin Mahir, the head of the Muarojambi district government, claims the temples are protected: “Let’s say a coal mining company asks for a permit for an area of two hectares. If there’s a “menapo” within the area, we will put a fence around it to protect the temple.”

Quinawaty Pasaribu visited one of the “menapos” and there was no fence. The “menapo” was located inside the company’s area, and was only 50 metres away from the nearest coal stockpile.

Local villagers say they “… don’t want coal companies around the temple site … if they can harm our cultural heritage. We have to protect the area. The government has to be firm about this.”

Ah, but the government won’t. After all, the coal industry is the “driver of the country’s economy” this year.

Activists, academics and history buffs have started a petition to Save Muarajambi ancient temple site from industrial threats (which also include palm oil processing plants). So far, it has garned nearly 3000 signatures, including mine, from across Indonesia.

Senior archaeologist Metta Dharmasaputra, the man behind the petition, says: “If we don’t do anything about the temples’ destruction, we can only say to our children and grandchildren in the future that there used to be a temple here. That it’s gone now, it’s just a fairy tale for our future generations.”

“We’re going to push people to save the Muarojambi site. This site is priceless. Getting people to sign the petition is just the beginning of our actions.”

You too can join the notable figures (including your correspondent): Sign the Petition

Indonesia has 104 billion tons of coal resources and 22 billion tons of proven reserves. It is projected that Indonesia’s coal production in 2012 will reach 380 million tons, topping the government’s target of 332 million tons, with about 82.07 million tons (24.72%) allocated for obligations in the domestic market. 57.2 million tons of that will go to the state-owned electricity company PT PLN, absorb while the rest will go to Independent Power Producers (IPP) and other industries.

So that's nearly 300 million tons which will exported, much of it to China and India and largely for use in power plants.

SBY has said that coal will be the driving force of Indonesia's economy this year.

With the total domestic demand for coal taking a mere 24.72 percent of annual production, the government should consider construction of as many coal fired steam power plants as possible.

Only by promoting coal as energy and economic booster, rather than revenue driver, can the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry’s vision of harnessing energy and mineral resources for the public welfare be realized.

If by "economic booster" it is meant that coal should be owned, bought and sold by outside interests, then Indonesia is on track.

Down To Earth lists the then current (August 2010) and the potential foreign investors in Indonesia's coal mining industry:
- Anglo Coal (subsidiary of UK-listed Anglo American plc and based in South Africa)
- Banpu Public Company Ltd (Thailand)
- BHP Billiton (Australia and the UK)
- Binani Cement (India)
- China Investment Corp in partnership with PT Bumi Resources
- Churchill Mining Plc (UK)
- CIL (Coal India Ltd)
- Essar Steel (India, and UK-registered)
- GMR Energy (India)
- Kangaroo Resources (Australia)
- Lanco (India)
- Leighton Group (Australia)
- MEC (United Arab Emirates)
- Noble Group (Hong Kong)
- North American Coal Corporation (USA)
- NTPC (India)
- Peabody Energy (USA)
- PTC India (India)
- RAK (Dubai)
- Ramky Infrastructure Ltd (India)
- Reliance Power (India)
- Rognar Holding B.V (Netherlands) together with Sojitz Corp. (Japan)
- Sahin Jain (India)
- Samtan Co (South Korea)
- Shenhua Group (China)
- Straits Asia Resources (Singapore)
- Tata (Tata Sons) (India)
- Thiess (Australia)
 
There are, of course, several Indonesian companies active in the coal trade. Seventeen coal mining companies are currently listed at the Indonesian Stock Exchange (IDX) and have experienced "an outstanding growth of net profits" due to "increasing coal prices."

The most prominent is Bumi Plc., which has the largest coal-producing assets in Indonesia, is the largest sea-borne coal exporter of thermal coal and is also one of the fastest growing as it cashes in on demand from utilities in India and China. It expects output to jump to 140 million metric tons by 2014 from an expected 86 million this year.

The Bakrie Group, headed by Abdurizal Bakrie, presidential hopeful, and Borneo Lumbung, headed by Samin Tan, jointly own a 47.6 percent stake in Bumi Plc., which is listed on the London Stock Exchange.

Last November, to finance the mandatory repayment of a one-year loan that had been due to mature this month, the Bakrie Group sold 23.8 % of Bumi Plc, about half the Bakrie family's stake, to coal miner PT Borneo Lumbung Energi & Metal Tbk in a $1 billion deal. The finance institutions involved included the Swiss bank Credit Suisse, which arranged the loan, and a group of hedge funds..

Borneo Lumbung arranged a five year loan of $1 billion with Standard Chartered Bank for  in order to buy into Bumi Plc.

So, that's an even larger chunk of Indonesia's natural resources in hock to the international banking community, much of which has been bailed out with taxpayers' money.

Burning coal produces about 12 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide each year which is released to the atmosphere, about 70% of this being from power generation. Other estimates put carbon dioxide emissions from power generation at one third of the world total of over 28 billion tonnes of CO2 emissions.

Health risks associated with using coal as an energy source.

Coal by itself is not harmful but ….

Coal-burning plants are some of the worst industrial polluters in the United States, producing CO2, a major contributor to global warming, mercury, highly toxic if ingested or inhaled, nitrogen oxide, and sulfur dioxide. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the USA, contends that sulfur dioxide promotes heart disease and asthma, while nitrogen oxides destroy lung tissue.

Additional hazardous byproducts produced by coal-burning plants include, arsenic, chromium, cobalt, lead, manganese, zinc, radionuclides and particulate matter. Each type of coal produces different levels of these pollutants, all of which negatively impact both the environment and our health.

A coal-fueled plant has been known to produce more radioactive material than a nuclear power plant. 

In 2010, the Indonesian government announced a list of 93 power plants to be built under the second 10,000-megawatt (MW) power generation scheme.

This second project is expected to promote the use of clean and renewable energy, but coal-fired power plants will still contribute significantly.

Of the total capacity, up to 1,204 MW (12%) will be generated by hydroelectric plants; 1,660 MW (16%) from gas combined-cycle plants; 3,977 MW (39%) from geothermal plants, and 3,312 MW (33%) from coal-fired plants.

Development of new "clean coal" technologies is addressing this problem so that the world's enormous resources of coal can be utilised for future generations without contributing to global warming. Much of the challenge is in commercialising the technology so that coal use remains economically competitive despite the cost of achieving low and eventually near "zero emissions".

In other words, there is not, as yet, a way to ensure that coal-powered power plants will not contribute to climate change.

Footnote

It's not just the burning of coal which is hazardous to life as we know it.

PT Sinar Mas, through its Sinar Mas Agro division, also known as PT SMART, has been the recipient of worldwide condemnation and boycotts following the publication of a report by Greenpeace (.pdf) in 2010 which alleged that its palm oil and forestry plantations were the cause of widespread rainforest and orangutan habitat destruction.

These allegations were reinforced by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) which found that there had been serious non-compliance with the RSPO Code of Conduct, specifically a failure by SMART to work towards implementation and certification of the RSPO Principles and Criteria.

And as recently as December last year, fresh allegations were made that Sinar Mas continues to encroach on protected forests

This week, the coal unit of the Sinar Mas group conglomerate has reported that its 2011 profits after tax surged almost six fold to Rp.302 billion (US$32.91 million).

And the name of its coal unit offers a direct link to my introduction.

Click to enter website.

Anyone interested in the slaughter of our cousins, the orangutans of Kalimantan and Sumatra, because oil palm plantation managers view them as "pests" will find that the UK Observer newspaper is giving great prominence to the issue.

Read it here

I very rarely copy and paste anything straight from another publication, preferring to provide links to my references and sources. However, the article below, taken from the front page of yesterday’s Guardian Online does not need much by way of commentary, that is, apart from one line: the project appears to be hampered “by the byzantine Indonesian system.”

A UK conservationist plans to create four new islands in northern Sumatra for sick and injured orangutans currently in cages. Orangutans who are unable to be reintroduced to the natural habitat would be destined for the new islands.

A British conservationist is leading an audacious plan to create a chain of man-made islands in northern Sumatra that would liberate the Indonesian island’s population of caged orangutans.

Dr Ian Singleton aims to create four islands of grass, shrubs and trees for sick and injured orangutans – those who are unable to be reintroduced to the natural habitat – to roam, freeing them from the 3x4m cages in which they currently reside.

Singleton is currently in the process of securing land for the islands. The ideal location would be near the coast with a consistent supply of fresh water via a stream or river.

Diggers, operated by local contractors, will then carve up the land to create moats, thereby encircling the land with water. The earth removed by the digging will be used to landscape the islands to make them ape-friendly.

Orangutans, which can’t swim, will be reluctant to leave the islands due to the water, although Singleton plans to erect an electric fence to ensure the creatures don’t drown.

“Depending on the site, it shouldn’t take us too long to create the islands, as long as the moats don’t leak,” Singleton told the Guardian from northern Sumatra.

“The biggest challenge is finding the right land that has the right security and a water supply that isn’t full of effluent. Finding a clean stream in Sumatra can be difficult as there’s lots of pollution, but we have the option of creating a bio-filtration system to purify the water.”

Singleton and his team have released more than 150 orangutans into the wild over the past decade, but currently have 50 further apes in medical quarantine.

A handful of orangutans have been earmarked for immediate transportation to the island, including twins that made headlines earlier this year due to both of their parents being blind.

Singleton has been in Sumatra since 2001, following stints at zoos in Jersey and Edinburgh. He leads the Orangutan Conservation Programme in the country and is funded by a Swiss NGO, PanEco.

While the immediate aim is to protect the captive orangutans, Singleton hopes the project will inform local people about the threat to the animal’s survival via an education centre and guided walks.

There are only an estimated 6,000 orangutans left in Sumatra, due to deforestation and conflict with humans.

“These orangutans are refugees from forests that don’t exist any more,” he says. “You have animals like Leuser who has been blinded by an air rifle and you don’t want him living for 45 years in a small rusty cage. I want people in Medan (capital of the north Sumatra province) to see how these orangutans have been shot or had their arms chopped off or got hepatitis B.”

“There needs to be a change in behaviour, otherwise the project is a waste. It’s all very nice getting westerners here, but we need to reach the people who are chopping down the trees here and shooting the orangutans because they’re in their habitat.”

“Lots of middle class people, even policemen, steal orangutans and have them as a status symbol. The irony is that the people who are meant to uphold the law here are the ones with orangutans in cages.”

Singleton says that he is close to acquiring a 20 ha (49.4 acre) plot of land to create the islands, but claims he has been hindered by the byzantine Indonesian system.

“I fluctuate between cautiously optimistic [and] very pessimistic,” he says. “The business lobby is so powerful here and vote buying so prevalent, that it’s hard to change anything. One minute the government will say that it wants to protect the forest and then they will grant a permit to clear 15,000 hectares of forest. Very few people are prosecuted for keeping an orangutan as a pet.”

Singleton is working with the Australian Orangutan Project to raise funds for the island development.

I’ve subscribed to the Jakarta Post for c.24 years and long praised it for its balance and general support for ‘underdogs’. ‘Balance’ is, of course, subjective, but I’ve rarely had cause to question its editorial integrity – until now.

It’s not yesterday’s full page ‘advertorial’ from Sinar Mas self-praising their so-called corporate social responsibility (CSR) that is pissing me off, nor is the fact that that nearly half of today’s main section is taken up with ‘consolidated financial statements’; these all subsidise the cover price.

No, it’s what is published today which is leading me to seriously question my subscription. There’s an ‘Opinion’ article on page 7 of the Post entitled ‘Balancing sustainability with economic development‘. This is a reprint of an article by Ian Lifshitz, the Sustainability & Public Outreach Manager of Asia Pulp and Paper (part of Sinar Mas) first published a year ago.

On the front page of the Post’s Business section today we learn that the Gramedia Group (publishers of the Post and the hitherto trustworthy Kompas) is joining Sinar Mas to build Indonesia’s largest convention centre which “might cause traffic jams.”

So, how independent is the Post?

Readers of the many Gramedia publications, which include books sold in its country-wide chain of stores, now need to be told that the pulp used for its paper edition comes from sustainable sources, rather than from a company which readily, yet perhaps unwittingly, admits that not all of its supplies of wood pulp for its paper mills comes from sustainable sources..

Sinar Mas is Indonesia’s largest palm oil and pulp group. Through its Asia Pulp and Paper (APP) division, it holds 1.3% of Indonesia’s land mass.

Pause here to consider that fact as written by Aida Greenbury, APP’s major apologist earlier this year.

Consider too, that she admits that “in 2011, we can say that ….. 52 per cent of APP’s pulpwood supplies currently meet mandatory Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) standards set by the Indonesian government with multi-stakeholder consultations.“

And the other 48% presumably does not.

So… what is the source of the paper which I read every morning?