Jakarta – Following Central Kalimantan Governor Agustin Teras Narang, green activists voiced on Sunday their rejection of the government's plan to build a 135-kilometer railway connecting Central and East Kalimantan.

The railway construction is planned to be funded by Russian interests, which have agreed to invest US$2.5 billion in the project aimed at supporting coal distribution.

The director of the Central Kalimantan chapter of the Indonesian Environmental Forum (Walhi), Arie Rompas, said Sunday in Palangkaraya the project could harm not only the environment, as the railway would pass through protected forest areas, but also the safety of people living alongside the Barito and Mahakam rivers.

"The areas that the railway will pass through are catchment areas, so we fear that the infrastructure could destroy the environment," Arie said, as quoted by kompas.com.

Arie asked the government to review the plan. Save Our Borneo director Nordin expressed his concerns over the impacts of coal mining activities in general and the affects the railway might have upon the environment.