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ctivists have been expressing concern that many of the hills in Bandarlampung, Lampung, designated to be water catchment areas, have been sold to investors and turned into resorts or stone-mining sites.

Traditional miners, for example, are mining stones at Camang Hill, on which notorious high-scandal bribery case figure Artalyta Suryani reportedly reclaimed a beach to build a luxurious residence.

They claimed to have bought the land and paid money to the local Spatial Planning Agency.

"Until 10 years ago Camang Hill was still intact. Now almost half the rocks have been mined by Artalyta's company PT Bukit Alam Sutra to reclaim the Lampung Bay," said Hendarawan, director of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment's (Walhi) Lampung branch, on Thursday.

He expressed fear there might have been collusion practices between owners of mining companies and staffs at the Bandarlampung municipal administration in term of license issuance.

Hendrawan said investors from Lampung and Jakarta have been targeting a number of hills in Bandarlampung to be developed into elite residential complexes or luxurious hotels, where people can enjoy beautiful views of the town and sea.

"Businessmen sell such views to prospective consumers, even if there is a bylaw stating the hills are conservation areas," he said.

"Unless something is done about it, Camang Hill will definitely disappear in five years, similar to Kunyit Hill near the Lampung Bay."

Businessman Sayuti, 50, said he owned a 3,000-square-meter plot at the hill where he employed dozens of manual workers to mine stones from the area. He said he could earn a net income of up to Rp 1 million a day by doing the business.

However, the head of Bandarlampung Environment Controlling and Management Agency (BPPLH), Syahril Alam, said Camang Hill had long been a catchment area whose stones could not be mined.

"The mining activities are clearly illegal as they do not have the license to do so from the mining agency."

He added his office had told the businessmen to stop the mining activities.

"The illegal mining has caused frequent landslides and floods in Bandarlampung," he said.

Syahril also said only 20 percent of Camang Hill could be developed into buildings. The rest are conservation areas.

People living around the Camang and Rasuna Said hills have expressed fear of possible landslide and flood following the rainy season.

"A resident was buried alive last year because of landslide as a mud flood of 1.5 meters deep swept hundreds of the people's houses," said Komsani, 45, whose house is located near the Camang hill.

Data at the Walhi Lampung revealed that half of the hills in Bandarlampung had been heavily damaged environmentally and converted for other uses.