Padang, Indonesia – Environmental inspectors in Indonesia say they're continuing to monitor compliance by mining and other companies on the island of Sumatra amid ongoing public outcry three months after Cyclone Senyar struck the island, killing more than 1,000 people.
Tasliatul Fuadi, the head of the environmental department in West Sumatra province, pointed to recent spot inspections on the slopes of Mount Sariak, a short distance from the provincial capital, Padang, as well as new signage displaying public information to report allegations of misconduct.
"Should there be any further suspected cases of violations, please make an official report," Tasliatul said.
At least 267 people were killed in West Sumatra late last year – with 70 people still missing at the time of writing – after Cyclone Senyar made landfall over the north of Sumatra Island on Nov. 26 and 27.
The Sariak area is located on the outskirts of Padang, where 11 people were killed following the cyclone. At least 197 people were killed in the district of Agam, several hours west of the city.
Conducting comprehensive field checks on land-use change and environmental compliance in West Sumatra requires traveling long distances on a poor road network through a mountainous province larger than Switzerland. Many areas take at least a day to reach.
The flash floods unleashed by the cyclone, for many the worst in memory, also killed hundreds in the neighboring provinces of North Sumatra and Aceh, the latter a semiautonomous region and Indonesia's westernmost point.
In the aftermath, fishers along much of West Sumatra's coast were unable to reach the sea as decapitated trees and debris careened downriver in flash floods.
On the outskirts of Padang, 18 companies recently underwent inspection, including 13 mining sites, two palm oil companies, and a housing developer. The palm oil companies are understood to be PT Agro Masang Plantation and PT Mutiara Agam.
The permits of some quarry sites visited by inspectors from the West Sumatra government had expired, officials said.
"For other Class C mining sites, violations generally involve failure to fulfill obligations stipulated in environmental approval documents," Tasliatul said, referring to a classification of mine that usually refers to smaller operations, typically quarries for aggregates used in construction.
An inspection by the Ministry of Environment found numerous instances of noncompliance, including a failure to dig a sediment pond, leading to runoff into the river. Jumaidi, the owner of one such mine, confirmed the Dec. 18 inspection, during which officials ordered the pond to be deepened and placed the 5-hectare (12-acre) site under ministry surveillance.
Helmi Heriyanto, head of the West Sumatra provincial mining department, said his office had recorded violations by five companies operating on Mount Sariak. None was considered to have a direct connection with the Cyclone Senyar flash floods.
For local residents, however, the impact of quarrying on the slopes of Sariak has changed lives, while many worry about future flood risk.
They allege that quarrying runoff has polluted the Hulu Aia River, contaminating the community's principal water source. That river now runs the color of mud.
"We'd usually drink it straight away, even if it hasn't been boiled," Jaliur, a resident of Sariak village, told Mongabay.
Residents like Jaliur must now depend on a riskier water source, which occasionally leaves children in the village with skin problems, he said. Despite a protest last year, the quarrying area expanded toward the settlement and encroached on a hillside used for growing chili peppers. Another resident of Sariak village, Sri, blamed the runoff for cutting crop yields by more than half.
Rani, another resident, said she now spends 360,000 rupiah, an additional $21.40, a month buying water for bathing, cooking and drinking, to avoid dermatitis.
Mongabay saw extensive debris blocking the river by the village. Residents said they feared this could exacerbate flooding during extreme rain, with the monsoon season still expected to last more than a month.
Wider review
The ongoing review of mostly smaller quarries in West Sumatra took place amid public demand for greater oversight of commercial operations around protected forests and in key watersheds after the Cyclone Senyar tragedy.
As inspectors continued to travel the province to inspect company operations, West Sumatra Governor Mahyeldi Ansharullah said this year that the provincial government would draft new rules to provide a legal pathway for 301 community mining zones across nine districts.
The governor responded to criticism of the plan by saying the move could enable greater oversight of illegal gold and sand mines in the province.
The central government said it had suspended the operating permits of 28 companies in connection with the Cyclone Senyar devastation.
Last month, however, analysis published by prominent civil society organization Auriga Nusantara showed some of these permits had expired or been revoked years before the November flood.
"We found that several companies' concessions are not located in the disaster-affected areas – they are quite far from the disaster zones," Auriga legal director Roni Saputra told Mongabay in February.
Some have called for the government to go further than rushing out to check individual companies.
"There must be a comprehensive environmental audit by the government," said Ardinis Arbain, an environmental expert from Andalas University in Padang. "In the meantime, all field activities must be suspended."