Dams
"Indigenous peoples shall not be forcibly removed from their lands or territories.No relocation shall take place without the free and informed consent of the indigenous peoples concerned and after agreement on just and fair compensation and, where possible, with the option of return."  Hydro-electric  dams,  as shown in other parts of the world where large-scale projects have been undertaken, have had enomous environmental and social impacts. Plans exist for West Papua's Mamberamo River to be dammed in order to provide electricity for an aluminium smelter. The smelter is to be operated by a Canadian company, and its construction will in turn see the development of an industrial zone?, in the pristine northern region presently inhabited by isolated tribes. Plans also exist for a major pulp-paper mill, with possible Australian investment, and a giant fertiliser plant. The long term social and environmental impacts of this industrial development in such as an isolated, pristine area, will be enormous.
Minister   for   Research   and Technology, B.J. Habibie, is seeking out investors for the Mamberamo Dam project, and visited Australia in May, 1995.
Professor Otto Soemarwoto, an Indonesian ecologist has said of the Asahan Dam in Sumatra: "...development has been too much emphasised for national growth. The local people have been viewed as constraints for the development projects... resettlement schemes are in fact devices to alleviate these constraints. The projects are not conceived to benefit the local people, but people in cities and foreigners." During and subsequent to the Mamberamo dam's construction, large areas of land will be flooded and made uninhabitable, with a potential for the spread of waterborne diseases and malaria in the tropical environment. The people first and most directly affected will be those groups requiring relocation. To be moved away from ancestral homes is especially difficult for isolated populations. The stress of relocation is indicated by a rise in morbidity rates.This applies especially to the very young and the very old. A population's resistance to illness is lowered because of the very real stress accompanying resettlement and because of sudden changes in food consumption.
Almost  90  per  cent  of Mamberamo people are illiterate.Tribal groups include the Bauzi, who live by catching fish and crocodiles in the rivers and lakes, hunting in the forests or collecting wild fruits.The presence of the military in Mamberamo since 1985 with a "cooperative" crocodile business, has had a great sociological impact, especially on local women. With tobacco, sugar and coffee as payment for work, the troops force local men away from their villages for week to catch crocodile, leaving the wives vulnerable to the needs of the troops.Existing regional health standards are already low, and may be compounded by the influx of foreign construction and semi-s~led workers.
Long term sustainable developme~zt of the area, to benefit local people, could be brought about by a system of small scale micro-hydro schemes. This would encourage the electrification of villages, and the dev~o~wnmt of local industries.