THE 1-million-hectare swampland project was typical of New Order projects. The idea was colossal, the cost ran into the trillions and the pretext was the interests and wishes of the public. For the sake of these colossal ideas, usually from Suharto, analyses of environmental impact were treated as unimportantor were thrown in the trash.

The Central Kalimantan project is a perfect example. Suharto dreamt of creating a million hectares of rice out