Ludji Michael Riwu Kaho, A researcher of cross-border rivers

KOMPAS/KORNELIS KEWA AMA

Ludji Michael Riwu Kaho

Few people pay much attention to the rivers near them, let alone rivers that lie at least partially outside of their country. Ludji Michael Riwu Kaho, 55, meanwhile, has committed himself to researching the river that crosses the border of Indonesia and Timor Leste.

According to Ludji, countries that manage cross-border rivers will enjoy the benefits. Conversely, failure to manage such rivers well could spell disaster and cause losses to the countries involved.

In an interview at Nusa Cendana University (Undana) in Kupang on Tuesday (9/4/2019), Ludji said only 18 cross-border watersheds in 300 countries all over the world were managed jointly between two or more countries.

Indonesia has three cross-border rivers, namely those on the borders of Papua and Papua New Guinea, Kalimantan and Malaysia as well as East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) and Timor Leste. To Ludji’s knowledge, the rivers in Kalimantan and Papua are not properly managed.

“I initiated [the management of the river] by NTT and Timor Leste in 2012. With support from Indonesia’s Environment and Forestry Ministry, I went to Timor Leste in 2015 to prepare a memorandum of

understanding [MOU] between the government of Indonesia and Timor Leste. The MOU was signed by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and the prime minister of Timor Leste in 2015,” said Ludji.

Also signed was a document called the Implementation of Arrangement (IA) by the Ministry of Agriculture of Timor Leste and the Indonesian Environment and Forestry Ministry. Seven points were agreed, one of which was the management of the river. “I compiled it using the data I have, but I also asked for input from Timor Leste,” said Ludji, who received an award from President Jokowi in January 2019 as the pioneer of cross-border river management in Indonesia.

At least 10 rivers cross the border between Timor Leste and Indonesia. The biggest is Talao Loes, the upstream area of which lies in Timor Leste, in the districts of Kobalima and Maliana. The water flows to Belu in NTT, mostly to Turiskain district and its surroundings.

Eighty percent of the upstream area of the Talao Loes lies in Timor Leste, around 60 percent of its middle part is in Indonesia, and nearly 90 percent of the downstream is in Timor Leste, leaving only 10 percent in Turiskain, NTT.

Turiskain is the area with the highest level of prosperity in NTT, with villagers earning average per-capita income of Rp 15 million per year from selling agricultural products, such as rice, corn and horticultural crops, to the East Timorese on the other side of the border, namely in Malibaka village, Timor Leste.

Because Malibaka relies on food from Turiskain, the government of Timor Leste began pioneering Malibaka as an agricultural center. They will disrupt the river flow to get water for farming by building barriers called bronjong. The Indonesian government has not done the same thing in Turiskain.

KOMPAS/KORNELIS KEWA AMA

Ludji Michael Riwu Kaho.

Disaster

During the dry season, which lasts nine months in NTT, the river in the border area is generally dry, so that local people can grow plants there. When the rainy season arrives, sudden flash floods can sweep people away. Such incidents have killed dozens of people in the past.

In response to the repeated incidents, Ludji began researching rivers on the NTT border in 2005. The research included, among other aspects, the water surface (water table), springs, basins, soil geomorphology and the nature of the river -- small, medium or large.

As many as 90 percent of the rivers are in the small category. They do not have their own springs. These rivers dry up during the dry season. The rest of the rivers are of medium size, namely Benanain, Noelmina, Kambaniru and Aesesa. Ludji noted that there were 1,192 islands in NTT, about 90 percent of which were characterized as small, while 10 percent were medium in size. The number of rivers is 3,987.

The existing scientific literature on rivers mentioned almost exclusively waterways on big islands, such as Java. There were no books about medium and small rivers until Ludji wrote a book about the management of the Talao Loes.

He did not stop there. Ludji also arranged river management. Ludji\'s study of Talao Loes river management has become a reference work for the government in managing interstate rivers on medium and small islands, including seven provinces of Indonesia.

Ludji said Indonesia must manage cross-border rivers well; otherwise, the country would suffer losses. He pointed out that, in NTT alone, Indonesia had lost more than 40 hectares of land because the cross-border river kept encroaching onto Indonesian territory. So far, the territorial border is measured from the midpoint where the river flows.

“The river has moved into the Indonesian territory. The vast land area of Timor Leste is expanding, while the Indonesian territory is decreasing. This is only at one point. If we traced along the river, the size of the affected area is broader. River abrasion also continues,” said Ludji.

To realize the management of the river with Timor Leste initiated in 2012, Ludji led a team from Indonesia and Timor Leste in 2016-2018 to develop a river management plan. The team traveled to Australia to offer integrated research cooperation in dry agriculture and cross-border river management. Unfortunately, the collaboration has not been followed up.

“[The Timor Leste delegation] met me. I said we could realize the river management MOU, and they supported that. We analyzed [the situation] together. It turns out there are issues related sources of income and food security. I asked them to settle the river management first and later talk about food security and agricultural issues. They agreed but remained silent,” said Ludji.

Later, Timor Leste decided they were unable and asked Ludji to complete the Talao Loes river management plan. The results have been discussed with Timor Leste several times.

ARSIP PRIBADI

Ludji Michael Riwu Kaho.

Ludji hopes that, in the future, cross-border river management will get greater attention, not only on the NTT border but also on the borders of Papua and Kalimantan.

Ludji Michael Riwu Kaho

Born: Kupang, July 24, 1963

Wife: Dolly FS Balo

Education:

- S-1 Animal Farming, Nusa Cendana University

- S-2 Agronomy, Nusa Cendana University

- S-3 Forestry, Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta, 2005

Children: Norman Riwu Kaho (35), Calvin Riwu Kaho (33), Joan Riwu Kaho (32), Febrian Riwu Kaho (30), Jordan Riwu Kaho (29).

Organization:

- NTT River Forum

– Indonesia Land Conservation Society

– Indonesia Forest and Climate Change Experts Association

Job: Lecturer at Animal Farming Studies, Undana Kupang