> holy uncle <holyuncle@...> wrote: > ***Lebih baik kembali ke pangkuan NKRI..... > TIMOR-LESTE Communities left in dark > over controversial power plant >
Masa gara2 listrik mati jadi harus balik dijajah RI ??? enggak logis lah, karena di Indonesia pun listriknya mati lebih sering dari di Timor Leste. Kalo di-kota2 besar di Indonesia ada giliran mati lampu, maka di kota2 kecil dan di-daerah2 pinggiran malah enggak ada listrik, dan kepala2 kampung menyewakan listrik dari generator cuma untuk malam saja bukan untuk siang. Beda dengan di Timor Leste, listrik tetap menyala siang dan malam dan bukan berasal dari listrik kepala kampung melainkan listrik negara yang dikelola orang2 yang betul2 ahli bukan lulusan pesantren. Beda ya dengan listrik di Indonesia yang berasal dari Cina dengan pengelola lulusan pesantren. Ny. Muslim binti Muskitawati. > A cornerstone of the government's development plan is a promise to electrify > every home in Timor-Leste within just a few years. But communities living in > the shadow of the power plant supposed to jumpstart this transformation know > little or nothing about its impact. > > "We don't know what problems it might cause because we don't even know > anything about it," says Gregorio Jesus Perreira, 55, who lives 1km from the > power plant's main site. > > Perreira went to the capital city, Dili, to ask officials at the Ministry of > Environment why the plant had been placed within a community rather than in > an unpopulated area. Their response, says Perreira, was that relocating it at > this point was not viable. > > Demetrio do Amaral, head of Haburas Foundation, a Dili-based environmental > NGO that tried unsuccessfully to contest the construction of the Hera power > plant in the courts, says a few thousand people live within 1km of the power > plant. > > Controversy > > Since its inception in 2008, the power plant in the coastal town of Hera in > this half-island nation has been controversial. > > Construction was greenlighted by the government without an environmental > impact assessment or any publically released assessment of its financial > viability. > > The government initially purchased two second-hand heavy fuel generators from > China for the plant. After it was pilloried for purchasing technology deemed > by many countries to be too harsh on the environment, the government ordered > a duel-fuel generator from Finland that can use either heavy oil or natural > gas, which is less polluting, but observers say the exact design of the plant > is constantly changing. > > Most countries are moving away from such technology or have already stopped > using it as it creates acid rain, water pollution, toxic solid waste, > particulate air pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions, say activists. > > Heavy oil is the by-product left after oil is refined. Burning it as fuel > causes air and water pollution linked to cardiovascular and respiratory > health problems, says Rui Pinto, a biologist and founder of Rai, an > environmental consulting group. As a result, he said, people should not live > within a 10km radius of the plant. > > But midway through the plant's construction, residents continue to live > within a stone's throw of the construction site and complain they have yet to > be informed of any plans to relocate them. > > Sarmento Antonio do Rosario, a 66-year-old fisherman who lives right > nextdoor, says that, in 2008, visiting officials told him the government > would wait until the plant was operating before trying to assess its impact > on surrounding communities. > > > > Photo: Brendan Brady/IRIN > Construction of the multi-million dollar project is now underway He and other > fishermen in the area, he says, are concerned about the plant's emissions and > the possibility that spent oil will be carelessly dumped - and the > consequences for the fish. > > Powering development? > > Few question the need to boost the country's electricity supply. What little > power infrastructure existed in Timor-Leste at the turn of the century was > destroyed in 1999, when the country won independence, by retreating > Indonesian soldiers and the local militias they sponsored. > > The country's current power system consists of several dozen diesel-powered > generators that in total produce about 40MW of electricity, enough for only > about a third of the population in limited doses, according to the > government. > > Limited electrification presents numerous obstacles to the country's > development. As the Prime Minister's office states in its Strategic > Development Plan 2011-2030: "Access to electricity is a basic right and the > foundation of our economic future." The report outlines a vision for the > young country's development over the next two decades. "We will take action > to ensure that by 2015 everyone in Timor-Leste will have access to reliable > electricity 24 hours a day." > > Spending balance > > But observers say the government has taken an errant path in its attempt to > reach this goal, ignoring the project's impact on surrounding communities and > residents. > > In addition to what critics charge is government negligence in considering > the project's environmental impact and related effects on neighbouring > communities, concerns over the project's financial management have grown as > its price tag has surged from US$367.1 million to $628.7 million, according > to La'o Hamutuk, a local NGO. > > To government watchdog groups such as La'o Hamutuk, the Hera plant's cost has > made electrification a development priority at the expense of other sectors > in equally dire need of funding. > > So far this year, the government has spent more on infrastructure - mostly on > the Hera plant - than on all other government programmes combined. > > bb/ds/mw > > http://www.speroforum.com/a/60852/TIMORLESTE--Communities-left-in-dark-over-controversial-power-plant?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+speroforum%2Fnroq+%28Spero+News%29 > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > ------------------------------------ Post message: [email protected] Subscribe : [email protected] Unsubscribe : [email protected] List owner : [email protected] Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/Yahoo! 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