“So, the landslide was not only caused by heavy rainfall, but also due to forest damage, due to deforestation by irresponsible persons," chairperson of an environmental NGO called Gempa Indonesian Amiruddin Kr Tinggi said here on Monday.
Over the past two years, floods and landslides have been recorded in areas upstream of Kompasa hamlet during the rainy season.
According to him, the natural disasters have occurred two years after the deforestation in the protected forest and the conversion of protected forest areas into agro-tourism sites, soccer fields, vegetable gardens, cattle farms, fish ponds, and paving of roads using heavy equipment in Ujung Bulu area.
Floods and landslides that claimed victims in Rumbia sub-district, Jeneponto, will continue to pose a threat as long as the Bontolojong forest is not protected and reforested by the Forestry Office with the help of the local community, he remarked.
For hundreds of years, Loka Rumbia had never been flooded nor hit by landslides. However, in the past two years, it has experienced floods and landslides following deforestation in parts of the Bontolojong protected forest.
Tinggi urged the local government and relevant parties to repair the environmental damage to prevent disasters in the future.
Meanwhile, executive director of the Celebes Journal, Mustam Arif, shared a similar view.
He said that forest damage leads to erosion because when it rains, there is no longer anything to hold water. Trees function as a reservoir of water reserves as well as a barrier to abundant water, hence they help prevent flooding, he explained.
"Therefore, all parties must join hands to repair the environmental damage and not let it get worse," he said.
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Translator: Suriani Mappong, Fardah
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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