Selasa, 04 September 2012

Danau Limboto dan Permasalahannya..


Tulisan ini adalah salah satu tulisan yang saya buat di Tahun 2009, ketika sedang menjalani English For Academic Purposes di IALF Bali. Mohon maaf jika bahasanya dalam bahasa Inggris, nanti minta tolong sama om google aja untuk di translate ke dalam bahasa Indonesia.
 Limboto Lake, The problems, and Proposed Alternative Management 
Limboto Lake is the lake located in two regencies in Gorontalo province, namely Gorontalo city and Gorontalo regency. The existence of this lake is crucial due to its important roles in economy, cultural, and ecological function for this province. Despites its important roles, Lake Limboto has been heavily destructed in the last several decades. The shallow of the lake,   narrowing of the lake, water pollution, sedimentation, over exploitation of the fishing area, extinction of the endemic fish, eutrofication, and frequent floods are the problems revolving around this lake. There have been several efforts conducted by the government in order to preserve the existence of this lake. However, the successfulness of these efforts has been put into questions since the lake is getting more and more destructed.  This essay will be focused on two main themes namely ineffectiveness of the government programs and policies in preserving this lake, and alternative management of the Lake Limboto. This paper also believes that the current efforts to preserve the lake are inadequate.
Preservation of the Lake Limboto is a very complex problem; from environmental problem to political will of the government. In Provincial Regulation (PERDA) Number 1 year 2008 it is stated that from 1932 to 2005 the area of the lake has shallow from maximum 50m depth in 1932 to maximum 5.5m depth in 2005. The area of the lake had shrunk from 8,000 ha to 2,500ha in that 73 year period (Pemprov Gorontalo, 2008).  Furthermore, Kompas (2009) stated that during 1972 to 2002, the area of the lake had dropped as much as 50 ha per year and the sedimentation rate was 1.5-50 cm per year. It further warns that if we do not take action to preserve the existence of this lake, then in 2034 this lake would only be a history. Can we imagine what would happen to the floodplain community of this lake? What would happen to those people who rely their living on this lake? What about Gorontalo City and half of Gorontalo Regency who used this lake as their water reservoir?
The government of Gorontalo had responded to the above questions in terms of setting up several regulations and programs to preserve the lake and its surrounding environments. However, as it is mentioned earlier, the effectiveness and successfulness of these efforts are questionable. From 2004-2008 the government has spent at least 15 billion rupiahs to preserve this lake (Balihristi, 2009). PERDA number 1 year 2008 is the strongest one among those regulations, together with the Master Plan of the lake which was made in 2005. Programs such as restocking of the endemic fish, rehabilitation of the inlet water bodies, and improving community awareness absorbed most of the government budget. However, the impact of these programs is far less effective than it is expected. Annual flood is still happening - even bigger and wider-, endemic fish such as hulu’u and payangga (glossobugius gluris) are extinct now, and 2/3 of the lake surface is now covered by the water hyacinth (Perkumpulan JAPESDAb, 2009).
Furthermore, the ineffectiveness of the government programs is obvious in many cases. Some examples of these ineffective programs are restocking endemic fish programs.  In the period of 2004 to 2008, just for the restocking program alone, the government had spent Rp 1,048,785,000 (Balihristi, 2009). The restocking program is a program intended to bring back the endemic fish of the lake so it will not extinct. However, the restocking program made by the government in Lake Limboto was introducing the new species of fresh water fish to the lake.  Fish such as gold fish (Cyprinus Carpio) and nila fish, which are clearly not endemic of this lake. The result was those fish could not tolerate and adjust to the Lake Limboto’s water condition. Furthermore, as a project this kind of program is an auction program, whoever can provide the specification of fish being mentioned in the program wins it. Regardless to where the fish coming from and even if the fish is actually coming from the Lake Limboto and just being put back, it is no problem, as long as the project is being fulfilled. In fact, those endemic fish such as payangga, hulu’u and mangga ba’i are now rarely can be found in the market, which implies that these kinds of fish might be in their extinction stage. In addition to this fact, there has not any means to evaluate whether this restocking program success or not. Thus, it is clear that these restocking programs were not effective at all.
Secondly, programs related to improving community awareness in preserving the Lake Limboto. From 2004 to 2008, the government had spent Rp. 795,000,000,- for this programs alone (Balihristi, 2009). This program typically take place in form of socialization, meetings, community gathering and very less practice. This program is counterproductive, because there was a report piled up by an environmental institution, Perkumpulan JAPESDA, which gathered information from the society of the Lake area implying the ineffectiveness of this awareness program. In their report, the floodplain community stated that the program rarely involved the local people. The government came to them, invite them to sit and listen to the talks, have lunch and go home. In fact, the local community are willing to participate if they were actively involved in the program. What they meant by actively involved is that they have some role and influence the decision making process of preserving the lake, not merely being field workers.
Thirdly, the programs to tackle the sedimentation problem in the lake are also inefficient.  In average, every year, this lake shrunk about 50ha (Kompas, 2009) from the sediment which get trapped in this lake. This sediment then turned the area of the lake into land. Government respond’s to this problem is by making sediment trap in the delta of several inlet rivers. This sediment trap program in 2007 had consumed Rp. 710,000,000,- Sediment trap is usually formed by constructing an earthen embankment across a low area to form a sedimentation pool during rainfall runoff events.  An outlet spillway section constructed of stone provides drainage for the trap.  The sediment trap should be surrounded by vegetation. But the problem with this sediment trap is that it is being put in the delta, which means the amounts of the sediment get accumulated in the delta. Since the lake surface is lower than the delta and the amount of sediments are enormous, then this soil finally ended up thrown to the lake. Besides, the catchment areas of this lake are mostly occupied for farming (616km2)(Pemprov Gtlo, 2008). They grow corn in the stiff area, and this kind of farming practices is encouraging the sedimentation, since the humus in the stiff land gets washed into the river by the rain and wind. Sediment trap is also can be seen as a legalization of those reforestation and conversion of the catchment area into farming area. What I mean by saying legalization of those reforestation and land conversion is that, the people will perceive cutting the trees and opening the upland of the lake as no problem things, because no matter how much sediment they produced, it will always ended up in the catchment area. In fact, this is not acceptable under all circumstances, yes, the sediment trap is there, but there have been no efforts to dredge the sediment from those deltas. This means, that the sediments are still there, accumulating the destruction of the lake, making the body of the lake smaller and smaller.
 It is clear that there are gaps between government policies and programs in the management of this Lake Limboto. The policy does not go along well with the programs. One very obvious fact is in article number nine of the PERDA number 1, 2008(Pemprov Gtlo, 2008). In this article it is clearly stated that the rights and responsibilities of the Lake Limboto management rely on the provincial government, the government of Gorontalo regency, and the government of Gorontalo city. It implies that the management of Lake Limboto are government based. However, in article number 14 sub-articles 2C, it is stated that the community are involved in planning process, implementation process, monitoring process, and evaluation of lake management problem. This process just never happened, since none of the community members were involved in the making process of any program being implemented in the lake. The government policies seem to tackle strategic problem of the lake in the long run, but none of its implementation in form of programs interpret these policies. Even, I consider the government do not take this problem as seriously as it should have been. The programs regarding to this lake are carelessly planned and implemented. This can be seen in the book 7 (page 19) and book 9(page 44) Government of Gorontalo Regency Annual Working Plan (RKPD) for year 2007 to 2009. In those two books, the concern of the lake preservation and programs are exactly being put in the same sentence, just in different year. It is clear that they just copied the previous year statement and paste it into the next year plan. In addition to this, there are no evaluation of previous programs, whether it success or fail to meet the demand of preserving this lake. How could a program be implemented and approved, if we do not know to what extent its success or failure?
The gap between policies and implementation of Indonesia’s environmental program in general has been pointed out by Patrick Tombola (Tempo, 2009). He clearly stated that there are apparent discrepancy between the policy and its implementation in Indonesia, as there is a lack of policy vision; especially in the area that the central government do not pay much attention to. He further warns that wrong environmental policies of the future government of Indonesia will bring negative impact to the world. In the case of Lake Limboto, his argument thoroughly make sense, Lake Limboto has not draw much attention from central government compare to the Agropolitan (farming with corn as its main entry point) issue in Gorontalo. As if it is ok if the lake is disappearing, as long as it is for corn farming purposes. The reason behind this statement is because, the catchment area of the lake, which supposed to be remain intact has been converted into corn farming area, regardless to whether the land is productive or not. Moreover, this deforestation and land conversion had brought more severe impact in forms of flood. The people who suffer from the annual flood from the lake are not merely the floodplain community but also those who are the citizens of Gorontalo city, since the outlet of this lake is only one river.
More about this gap, Anshari et.all (2005) pointed out that there are some issues on the government side to implement their lake management policies. Those are difficulties in coordination and sharing power. What they meant by difficulties in coordination and sharing power is that the government itself consists of some agencies, which have the same authority to execute the projects. The ego between these institutions makes it hard for the policies to be implemented. This then lead into the second gap that they further mention as competition to be the leader of project executor. Taken for example, the dredging program of the water hyacinth from the lake, it is the responsibility of Public Work (PU) department, but since it is happened in the lake, then it has to coordinate the Fisheries Department (DKP), and because it is an environmental project, it has to involve the Environmental and Research and Technology Board (Balihristi). This situation becomes complex when it comes into dealing with who will lead the project. Each institution have the rights and roles in this project, therefore, it can be quite tricky to get these government institutions to work together. Another difficulty that the government are facing is the project oriented tendency rather than achieving the long term targets. I clearly mentioned this in the example of the restocking fish program.
It has been clarified that there are problems in this lake and that there are discrepancy between the government policies and its implementation. Now, what should be done in terms of achieving the long term target-preserving this lake and improving the local community livelihood- of the Lake Limboto? Government-based management clearly cannot work out here. There are other options of the sustainable lake management. One of those option is community based management system which had had provided by Berkes (in Castro & McGarth, 2003). He argued that community management systems are an effective ways to manage sustainable regional fisheries and improving the life quality of the local people. This is along with Anshari et all (2005) who stated that rights should be given to the local community to exercise the community-based management system. What it meant by community based management is a management by and for the community. The community themselves arrange the area in terms of its access and control and the preservation of the resources in the lake.
One good example of this community based management system was the establishment of “fishing accords” in Amazon floodplain community (Lima,1999;McDaniel, 1997; McGarth, 1993 in Castro & McGarth, 2003). Fishing accords are means to control access and use of local fisheries resources in the lake, which are product of communities discussion, which had had written down and signed by the participants of the meeting (Castro & McGarth, 2003). These fishing accords regulate two main things, access and use of lake resources, and monitoring and enforcement of the procedures. However, this example is not fully suited the Lake Limboto lake management what we expected to take place since it did not ensure the sustainability of the resources. These fishing accords only focused on catching as many fish as possible, than maintaining the sustainability of the fish and fishing areas (Castro & McGarth, 2003). Nevertheless, this model still can be partly adopted as the alternative model of Lake Limboto management as it highlights the community participation. In addition, it suits the government’s contention to improve community participation as mandated in the PERDA no.1 2008. Here the government intervention is needed in terms of giving them assistance with capacity improvement and awareness improvement as to how important the lake is. The community themselves should make regulation and enforcement of those regulation to manage their Lake. If this doesn’t happen in the mean time, the Lake Limboto will only be a history, our next generation will only remember us as those who had made their chance to see this beautiful lake disappear. Take action now, or in 2034 the Lake Limboto will no more exist.

  

References

Anshari, Z Gusti, Haryatiningsih Moedjiono, Andrijianto Yusuf Suharso, 2005, Roles of Government, scientists and NPOs in the development of Indonesia Lake Vision, 11th world lakes conference, Nairobi, Kenya viewed: on July 25, 2009 <http://www.ilec.or.jp/rg/wlc/wlc11>

Balihristi Gtlo,2009, Implementasi pemulihan kualitas lingkungan danau sampai tahun 2004-2008 dan rencana aksi tahun 2009, Gorontalo

Castro, De Fabio; David G McGarth, 2003, Moving toward sustainability in the local management of floodplain lake fisheries in the Brazilian Amazon, Human Organization, Vol.62, No.2, viewed: July 20, 2009 retrieved from: Proquest Database


Tombola Patrick, 2009, Indonesia’s Environmental Policies? Business as usual, Tempo No. 0946/July 14-20

Kompas , 2009, 15 Danau mengalami sedimentasi parah,  22 july

Pemprov Gtlo,2008, Perda No.1 Tahun 2008, Gorontalo

Pemkab Gtlo, 2009, Buku 09 Rencana Kerja Pemerintah Daerah (RKPD) Kabupaten Gorontalo Tahun 2009, Gorontalo, viewed: July 23 2009 < http://www: pemkabgtlo.go.id>

Pemkab Gtlo, 2007, Buku 07 Rencana Kerja Pemerintah Daerah (RKPD) Kabupaten Gorontalo Tahun 2007, Gorontalo, viewed July 23, 2009 < http://www: pemkabgtlo.go.id>

Perkumpulan JAPESDAa, 2006, Gambaran Umum Kondisi Danau Limboto, Gorontalo

Perkumpulan JAPESDAb, 2009, Laporan Interview Masyarakat Pesisir  Danau Limboto,
Gorontalo,

 



  








Minggu, 02 September 2012

KETIKA MIMPI TIDAK TERWUJUD

Saya, dan mungkin banyak orang lainnya, menapaki hidup ini dengan mendasarkan pada rencana-rencana dan mimpi-mimpi akan masa depan ideal yang kita inginkan. Saya, sebagai individu mungkin mengaitkan mimpi-mimpi tersebut dengan orang lain yang saya harapkan menjadi bagian dari mimpi saya tersebut. mimpi-mimpi itu menjadikan saya berusaha sekuat tenaga untuk melompat meraihnya.
Namun, ada kalanya ketika lompatan saya tidak cukup tinggi untuk menggapai mimpi itu, ketika pijakan saya goyah, dan mimpi itu tidak tercapai, saya merasa kehilangan arah. Saya kemudian melihat ke kanan dan ke kiri, kepada kawan-kawan dan orang-orang yang menjadi bagian dari mimpi saya untuk turut membantu saya. Ketika tangan-tangan itu tidak terulur untuk menarik saya memberi saya pijakan baru, saya sering terjatuh dan menangis.
Dalam tangis itu terkadang saya berusaha mencari kambing hitam dari kegagalan saya dan tak jarang melimpahkan ketidakmampuan saya meraih mimpi itu pada orang lain. Terkadang saya lupa, bahwa ada Dia yang Maha Tahu dan Maha Mengatur segalanya, yang telah mempersiapkan segala sesuatu yang terbaik untuk saya, dulu, kini, dan nanti. Dia Yang Maha Tahu, telah menyiapkan hal yang terbaik untuk saya, namun saya belum tahu itu apa, tapi saya yakin besok saya akan mensyukuri dan memetik hikmah dari kegagalan mimpi saya hari ini. Tuhan sedang mengajari saya untuk lebih banyak berdoa dan bersyukur kepadanya. Tuhan sedang mengajari saya tentang sabar. Tuhan sedang mengajari saya tentang kebesaranNya.

Puncak Botu, 3 September 2012

Minggu, 10 Juni 2012

PERJALANAN KE TIMUR

Pagi itu, pukul 5.00 sebuah perjalanan tak terencana ke timur di mulai. Timur yang hanya di kenal melalui cerita turun temurun, dan cerita orang-orang tua yang dulu pernah berdiam disana. Perjalanan yang hanya bermodalkan rasa ingin tahu akan tanah leluhur.Sebenarnya perjalanan ke timur ini bisa ditempuh dengan menggunakan kendaraan roda dua, namun kecepatannya dan rasa capeknya menurut mereka yang sering bepergian kesana adalah sama saja, hanya rutenya yang berbeda.
Jembatan gantung Tulabolo, menjadi garis start perjalanan itu. Matahari pun masih terlelap diantara selimut malamnya. setelah daerah pemukiman penduduk, peluh pun mulai bercucuran seiring naiknya matahari. Rasa lelah sejenak mengijinkan diri ini menikmati keindahan sumber air panas dan padang rumput Hungayono, tempat peneluran Macro Chepalon Maleo/, salah satu burung endemik Sulawesi.
Maleo atau yang dalam bahasa lokalnya disebut sebagai Panua/Tuwangge, adalah burung yang hidup berpasang-pasangan yang datang setiap pagi di situs tersebut untuk menggali sedalam 60cm dan kemudian si betina menelurkan telur yang tiga sampai empat kali lebih besar dari telur ayam, dan kemudian mengubur telur itu dalam lubang yang untuk selanjutnya menyerahkan kelangsungan hidup calon anaknya pada alam. Burung Rangkong pun seolah tak ingin ketinggalan menunjukkan bahwa ini juga merupakan habitatnya. Si pemakan biji itu bersama kawanannya berkaok-kaok dari atas salah satu cabang pohon di padang rumput itu.
Perjalanan selanjutnya melalui sungai kecil bernama Pomaguwo dan situs yang oleh penduduk lokal disebut sebagai Batu Meja, batu pipih berbentuk segi 4 yang melintang di tengah jalan setapak menuju Pinogu, di Timur Gorontalo. Sungai-sungai kecil lainnya juga terlewati, namun yang paling berkesan adalah sebuah sumber air kecil yang berasa sangat asin. Konon, dahulu kala ketika garam masih langka, penduduk Pinogu datang ke tempat ini untuk mengambil air untuk dijadikan sebagai pengganti garam dalam masakan.
Matahari semakin merangkak naik, seiring jalan yang mulai menanjak dan berliku. Lintah-lintah yang dengan serakahnya menghisap darah pun menjadi tak terasa oleh karena serunya perjalanan ini. Di perjalanan kami sering berpapasan dengan Kijang-kijang. Eits, jangan salah sangka dulu, kijang bukanlah hewan, melainkan orang-orang yang berprofesi sebagai porter yang mensuplai barang kebutuhan pokok masyarakat timur seperti minyak tanah, garam, dan ikan laut yang telah diasapi. Tidak ada batasan usia untuk menjadi seorang porter, selama anda bisa memanggul barang bawaan anda sejauh kurang lebih 28 kilo meter dari Tulabolo desa terakhir yang bisa dijangkau oleh kendaraan roda empat. Saya merasa malu sendiri pada anak kecil berumur 12 tahun yang harus membawa beban seberat 40 kg sampai ke Timur dan masih bisa tertawa dan bersantai ketika kami berpapasan saat makan siang di salah satu mata air kecil. Tas pakaian yang beratnya kurang dari 5 kg saja akhirnya saya serahkan kepada porter karena badan ini rasanya tak mampu lagi untuk memikul beban kecil itu.
Setelah melewati penyeberangan di Pohulongo, pada pukul 4 akhirnya sampai juga ke wilayah berpenghuni pertama di Timur. Menurut kawan seperjalanan, kami cukup cepat sehingga bisa mencapai perkampungan sebelum gelap. Walau pun kecepatan itu harus dibayar dengan salah seorang rekan mengalami kram otot betis.
Suasana kampung yang sepi tiba-tiba dikejutkan oleh suara seseorang melalui mega phone yang sedang memberikan pengumuman dalam bahasa Bonda, bahasa timur:
"Eiii Poti donodonogopa!
Aido Ita Mo lao ade laigiya ni Bapu Nerda
Mo miligo no ta hahatiba, bubuntunga, tatapa, titinggoda,
Tile gi bauta, lima gi bauta, wulu gi bauta, 
Daa mata gi lontupa
Daitiya Ninja!!!"
Awalnya pengumuman itu terasa asing, namun setelah diulang-ulang barulah tawa kami meledak.
Rupanya pegumuman itu ternyata adalah promosi untuk nonton bersama di rumah mantan kepala desa. Jika diterjemahkan artinya kira-kira seperti ini
"Perhatian-perhatian
Marilah kita berkumpul dirumahnya Kakek Nerda
Menonton orang yang saling pukul
Kaki tertutup, tangan tertutup, kepala tertutup
Hanya matanya yang melotot
Judul filmnya Ninja!!!"
Tak ada listrik sebagai penerangan di desa ini,hanya ada beberapa rumah yang menggunakan tenaga surya dan mesin generator kecil untuk penerangan, ssanya menggunakan lampu minyak tanah. sebagian besar desa gelap gulita begitu malam menjelang.
Rasa lelah setelah perjalanan seharian baru terasa ketika selesai makan malam. Kaki ini tak bisa digerakkan dari batas paha ke bawah. untuk naik ke tempat tidur saja, rasanya sangat sakit.Namun hidangan makan malam dan keramahan masyarakat di sini, membuat rasa sakit dan lelah itu terlupakan untuk sejenak.
Kakek buyut datang berkunjung disertai beberapa tetua desa yang masih merupakan family, menceritakan kisah lama keluarga dan sejarah desa, hujan yang turun sebelum gelap sore tadi menurut mereka adalah pertanda bahwa kami disambu oleh leluhur di desa ini. Cerita-cerita dan keramahan tetap berlanjut sampai mata ini sudah tidak bisa untuk dibuka lagi. Suhu udara yang dingin menggigit melelapkan raga dan jiwa yang letih.
Hari-hari selanjutnya ajakan untuk berkeliling kampung,menikmati pemandangan sawah-sawah organik, penggilingan padi dengan alat penumbuk tradisionalnya, serta tak lupa mandi dan bermain-main di sungai Olama dan bermain Volli ball bersama anak-anak muda desa menjadi kegiatan yang menyenangkan. Setiap malam saya selalu melengkapi catatan saya tentang desa ini dari diskusi bersama buyut dan para tetua desa yang lain.
Sehari sebelum kepulangan saya ke barat, para tetua mengajak saya ke salah satu situs makam di luar desa, tepatnya diseberang sungai Bulawa, makam yang ditempuh dengan berjalan kaki dan meneberangi sungai itu terletak di punggung bukit dengan empat bongkah karang besar sebagai batu nisan.
Menurut cerita para tetua desa, di tempat ini Raja Moluadu bersama Istrinya Ratu Sendena dan kedua anaknya dimakamkan. Kunjungan itu di dahului dengan ucapan para tetua dalam bahasa daerah, yang kira-kira bermakna bahwa kunjungan ini bukanlah untuk meminta berkat dari mereka yang berada dalam kubur, melainkan mendoakan mereka yang sudah berada di haribaan Yang Maha Kuasa dan meminta kepada Sang Pencipta. Kunjungan ke makam itu kemudian dilanjutkan dengan doa tahlil bersama. Setelah itu para tetua memotong bambu kecil yang tumbuh di bawah kaki makam dan memberikan satu ruasnya untuk saya bawa pulang. Menurut mereka, bambu itu merupakan bambu yang digunakan untuk menandu keluarga raja ke peristirahatannya yang terakhir. Bambu ini dulunya ada di bagian atas makam, sekarang tumbuh di kaki makam, dan konon katanya bambu tersebut tak pernah tumbuh lebih dari satu batang.
Selain kompleks ini masih ada lagi kompleks makam yang lain yakni di kaki gunung Sinandaha, tempat perisitrahan raja-raja yang hanya bisa ditempuh dengan berjalan kaki selama lebih dari dua hari dari kampung Pinogu yang sekarang. Nama Pinogu sendiri diambil dari kata Pinogumbala dalam bahasa Bonda yang berarti tempat pertempuran. Dimana dikisahkan bahwa dua Raja yang bersaudara Pulumuduyo dari kerajaan Suwawa dan Mooduto dari kerajaan Bolaang Mongondow terlibat perang saudara di tempat itu.
Kunjungan ke timur itu pun harus diakhiri. waktu telah banyak berlalu, tak terasa sudah 3 tahun berlalu sejak kunjungan itu. banyak hal yang sudah berubah, termasuk ekspansi perusahaan pertambangan ke daerah itu. namun memori tentang timur akan selalu dikenang dalam hati, dan lewat goresan pena anak negeri ini.

Gorontalo, 11 Juni 2012
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