Local communities use waste as a tool for informal coastal reclamation in an effort to adapt to urban pressure in Indonesia (Bandar Lampung City), writes Jonatan A. Lassa, a Research Fellow at the Institute of Resource Governance and Social Change (IRGSC), Kupang, in this opinion for the Jakarta Post. This activity continues today despite significant reforms by the city government over the last three years, he asserts.
His conclusion? 'Future vulnerability toward coastal disasters and climatic extremes is being laid down today. When extreme weather or new tsunamis are unleashed in the future, these coastal communities will become communal graveyards.'