Environment ministry to talk to DPR over bill<\/p>\n
Muninggar Sri Saraswati
\nThe Jakarta Post
\nJakarta<\/p>\n
In response to public outcry over the deliberation of the water
\nresources draft bill, State Minister for the Environment Nabiel
\nMakarim has promised to bring their complaints to the House of
\nRepresentatives (DPR).<\/p>\n
"We will recommend that the House listen to the public," he
\ntold The Jakarta Post on Thursday in his office.<\/p>\n
He praised the public for voicing their objections to the
\nbill's deliberation, but stopped short of saying whether his
\noffice had any objections to the bill.<\/p>\n
The bill is widely protested for what opponents and critics
\nsay its failure to address the interest of the common people.<\/p>\n
The deliberation of the bill, which was initially expected to
\nbe completed this week, has been postponed following public
\nprotests.<\/p>\n
The House will go into recess on Friday and will resume its
\nsession on Oct. 24.<\/p>\n
The bill is expected to be passed into law by the end of the
\nyear.<\/p>\n
Many have said the bill was drafted with the sole purpose of
\ncommercializing water, as the bill considers water a commodity.
\nFor example, an article in the bill stipulates that a province
\nmay export water with approval from the central government.<\/p>\n
Early this year, the Ministry of Settlement and Regional
\nInfrastructure announced its plan to export water from Riau to
\nneighboring Singapore.<\/p>\n
Critics also say the bill has failed to address issues on
\nwater resources conservation.<\/p>\n
Minister of Settlement and Regional Infrastructure Soenarno
\nhad said earlier that conservation issues would be addressed in
\nother laws, prompting critics to charge that the ministry only
\nwanted to exploit water, but placed the burden of conservation on
\nother ministries, such as the environment ministry and forestry
\nministry.<\/p>\n
Nabiel pointed out that water was a critical issue, as people
\ncould not predict the state of future water supplies.<\/p>\n
"We don't know about the future quantity nor quality of water
\nsupplies, they depend on the quality of the environment," he
\nsaid, adding that illegal logging remained a major problem in the
\ncountry's efforts to protect its environment and thus, its water
\nresources.<\/p>\n
The ministry has announced that Java, Bali and East Nusa
\nTenggara have suffered the most from water shortages this year.
\nSumatra, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Maluku and Papua still have vast
\nwater supplies of 453.6 billion cubic meters, against 23.7
\nbillion cubic meters of demand.<\/p>\n
However, recent data from the environment ministry indicated
\nthat water demand in those provinces will increase to 26.8
\nbillion cubic meters by 2020, while supplies will decline due to
\nunchecked deforestation.<\/p>\n
Data from the forestry ministry this year revealed that
\nsome 43 of 120.35 million hectares of forests have been
\ndevastated by illicit activities, with a degradation rate of 2.1
\nmillion hectares per year.<\/p>\n
The affected forests are mainly located in Nanggroe Aceh
\nDarussalam, North Sumatra, Riau, Jambi, West Kalimantan, Central
\nKalimantan, East Kalimantan, Central Sulawesi and Papua.<\/p>\n
State Minister Research and Technology M. Hatta Radjasa has
\nalso voiced his objection to an article in the bill, which
\nstipulates that the private sector may modify the weather through
\ncloud seeding.<\/p>\n
"It might potentially create regional conflicts," he said.<\/p>\n
Hatta mentioned that people often objected to cloud seeding
\nprojects carried out by the Agency for the Assessment and
\nApplication of Technology (BPPT) for various reasons, despite
\ntheir being approved by the central and provincial governments.
\nHe did not elaborate.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/environment-ministry-to-talk-to-dpr-over-bill-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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