Green Gleanings 3 - Dec. 07

All these snippets of good news from Indonesia have been gleaned from the Jakarta Post

Biopore
Jakarta residents are being encouraged to drill 1 million 'biopore' absorption holes, which are about 30cms (1 foot) wide and 1 metre deep, to help solve the regular flooding problem.

Given the causes and scale of the flooding, this is probably a forlorn hope. However, the holes are supposed to be filled with organic waste which will turn into compost, so if floods continue but folk manage their household waste better, then this is one good idea worthy of support.

Budirama, the head of Jakarta's Environmental Management Agency, said the city also want to build absorption wells under the city's flood prone streets but was waiting for the Jakarta Public Works Agency "to release a concrete plan".

"Concrete"? Left hand, right hand?

Govt. to restore railway facilities
The Minister of Transport, Jusman Syafii Djamal has said that the government will priotitise the rehabilitation and maintenance of old railway facilities and infrastructure in order to improve railway traffic safety and services. Naturally, "the program will be conducted in phases due to the limited state budget."

This is probably the major factor in inviting "the private sector to invest in the planned construction of cargo trains in resource-rich Sumatra ans Kalimantan to serve the mining sector on the two big islands as mandated by Law No.23 on railway transportation."

Jakarta Rail Authority?
The government is also considering establishing a new company to oversee railway service in Greater Jakarta in line with demand which is expected to increase significantly.

(If this means an improved service, this will be a self-fulfilling prophesy.)

More forest rangers
The Forestry Ministry plans to have 1,500 'elite' forest rangers by 2009 to protect forests from illegal logging. Currently there are nearly 900 'elite' forest rangers divided into 11 brigades.

The Forestry Minister, MS Kaban, said his office would also procure speed boats and firearms and train forest rangers on how to use them. He said "floating ranger stations" would also be set up.

Go Organic 2010
Given the public demand ~ "it tastes better", the Agriculture Ministry has an ambitious plan to become a major organic food producer by 2010.

Energy Audit
The Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry is drafting a regulation mandating a an energy manager to audit total energy usage for all buildings and report it to the ministry every six months.

"An energy manager must know total energy waste for the building. The ministry will scrutinize it and give recommendations to buildings and plants can save energy without decreasing productivity."

(Setting all A/C thermostats at a minimum of 25 degrees is an easy start!)

Law 30, 2007 concerning Energy is intended to provide a framework for conservation and renewable energy. A National energy Board, to be chaired by SBY, is being set up to promote energy conservation.

Hemat energi, hemat biaya!

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