Crisis forces city to 'sacrifice' its environmental programs<\/p>\n
By Stevie Emilia<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): More pollution. That's the first thing that
\ncomes to mind after learning that the city plans to suspend its
\nenvironmental programs due to its limited budget.<\/p>\n
The city used to have a regreening program, a Blue Sky program
\n-- which addressed air pollution -- and a clean river program.<\/p>\n
Without these programs, Jakarta's sky could take on a grayer
\ntinge than even before, while its small number of green areas may
\ndo little to help. Rivers will fill with garbage, causing floods
\nto most parts of the city when it rains.<\/p>\n
The decision to suspend the programs came as a big surprise to
\nmany environmentalists because it was made exactly two weeks
\nafter the celebration of World Environment Day on June 5.<\/p>\n
Blame it on the limited budget.<\/p>\n
The administration's 1998\/1999 fiscal year budget has already
\nsuffered from the chopping block twice. Initially, the city's
\nbudget tallied in at Rp 3.2 trillion (US$216.9 million), but was
\ncut to Rp 2.7 trillion and later to Rp 1.4 trillion as a result
\nof the crisis.<\/p>\n
Governor Sutiyoso said the current revised budget would be
\nused to help needy Jakartans at the grassroots level. Although he
\nindicated he would only suspend the three environment programs,
\nhe would not mention how long they would be held off.<\/p>\n
The city's original Rp 3.2 trillion budget allocated Rp 25.5
\nbillion to the environmental sector. Now, the city's
\nenvironmental department doesn't even have an idea how much makes
\nup its share of the current city budget.<\/p>\n
Emmy Hafild, chairwoman of the Indonesian Forum for
\nEnvironment (Walhi), said the city's decision to put off the
\nenvironmental programs was a \"setback\" to the efforts to improve
\nthe city's environment.<\/p>\n
\"The environment is being sacrificed,\" she said.<\/p>\n
She warned that more funds would be needed to address the
\nimpacts of the environmental damages.<\/p>\n
She also questioned the government's spending priorities in
\nthe budget.<\/p>\n
The administration, for example, had installed decorative
\nlights and other outdoor displays along certain main streets to
\ncommemorate the city's 471st anniversary on June 22, she said.<\/p>\n
The city will also hold the annual Jakarta Fair, scheduled to
\nbegin Saturday and run until Aug. 2, she added.<\/p>\n
\"Such fancy activities are a waste of money and are
\nunnecessary, but they're going on. The city should set its
\npriorities straight. Protecting the environment is vital,
\nespecially because people's health is at stake,\" Emmy said.<\/p>\n
She conceded that the city's celebration was far less
\nglamorous compared to previous years, but found it surprising
\nthat the city was able to set aside Rp 350 million out of its
\nbudget for this year's commemoration.<\/p>\n
The city has also collected Rp 815 million from 55 city-owned
\nfirms for outdoor displays.<\/p>\n
The amount collected would be split almost evenly between the
\ncelebration of the city's anniversary and the country's
\nIndependence Day celebrations in August.<\/p>\n
The Jakarta International Trade Fair Corporation, the
\norganizer of this year's Jakarta Fair, has also set aside about
\nRp 3 billion for this year's festival -- less than half of last
\nyear's budget for the same event.<\/p>\n
The corporation is 15 percent owned by the administration.<\/p>\n
Emmy said she could not understand why these celebrations were
\nto go on while environmental programs were being halted.<\/p>\n
\"Jakarta's environmental programs are too important to be
\nstopped, even only temporarily,\" Emmy said.<\/p>\n
She cited a 1996 World Health Organization report that said
\nthat stomach problems from unclean water was the number one
\nkiller of children under five years old, while the second killer
\nwas respiratory diseases caused by bad air quality.<\/p>\n
\"The administration should be the first to promote the need to
\nprotect the environment and improve its quality,\" Emmy said.<\/p>\n
Concern<\/p>\n
She raised concerns that pollution would get worse if the city
\nwas not committed to protecting the environment.<\/p>\n
She has a point. It is the government which issues warnings or
\npunishes polluters. The government is also responsible for
\ndesignating certain areas into green areas.<\/p>\n
And under the clean river program, or Prokasih, launched in
\n1989, the city was in charge of monitoring the cleanliness of
\nfive of its 13 rivers, both physically and chemically. The city
\nalso had to monitor whether nearby industries, hospitals and
\nhotels polluted the rivers.<\/p>\n
The Blue Sky program, started in 1996, aims to improve air
\nquality in big cities, including Jakarta, which ranked third for
\nthe most polluted cities in the world after Mexico and Bangkok,
\naccording to United Nations 1996 statistics.<\/p>\n
Two major sources of pollution identified by the program are
\nmotor vehicles and industrial plants. The city carried out
\nvehicle emission tests under Blue Sky to fight air pollution.<\/p>\n
The regreening project is also deemed by many as vital for the
\nimprovement of air quality here. Earlier, the administration had
\nplanned to turn 30 percent of the city's 65,000 hectares into
\ngreen areas, much like the area around the National Monument
\n(Monas) in Central Jakarta. Only 15 percent of the city's area
\nhas been set aside for green areas.<\/p>\n
The three programs, however, are often criticized for being
\nshort on action and for only carrying out limited measures. They
\nare also seen to be dependent on public participation.<\/p>\n
Still, there has been some progress.<\/p>\n
More people seem to realize the health dangers of vehicle
\nemissions and have started switching to environment-friendly
\nfuels, such as compressed natural gas or unleaded gasoline. More
\nindustries, hotels and hospitals are now treating their waste
\nbefore dumping them into rivers.<\/p>\n
There was a 10 percent increase on the number of vehicles
\npassing the emission tests, from 33 percent in 1996 to 44 percent
\nlast year.<\/p>\n
\"I don't know about the condition of rivers chemically, but I
\nsee that the garbage is not as much as it used to be,\" Emmy said.<\/p>\n
The head of the city's environmental bureau, Aboejoewono
\nAboeprajitno, urged people not to misunderstand the decision,
\nsaying the administration had not completely scrapped the
\nprograms.<\/p>\n
\"It was not an easy choice, but we no longer have the budget
\nto finance environmental programs.\"<\/p>\n
The administration, he said, was still willing to facilitate
\nNGOs or private sectors in organizing environmental campaigns.<\/p>\n
For instance, he said, the city morally supported five-day
\nemission tests last month held by Segar Jakartaku, an
\nenvironmental organization.<\/p>\n
Over previous years, the tests were jointly financed by the
\nadministration and a private company and were conducted for a
\nseven-day period in various areas. But last month's test was only
\nconducted at the National Monument area. The result was not yet
\navailable.<\/p>",
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