Environmental damage slows economic growth<\/p>\n
By T. Sima Gunawan<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Has Indonesia truly enjoyed over six percent
\neconomic growth over the last five years?<\/p>\n
Environmentalists are now questioning the validity of the
\nfigure and argue that the growth rate should be discounted in
\nview of the depletion of the nation's environment, including the
\nnon-renewable natural resources.<\/p>\n
This point was hammered home by environmentalists during a
\nrecent national coordinating meeting organized by the Office of
\nthe State Minister of Environment.<\/p>\n
Environmentalists argue that the 6.2 percent average economic
\ngrowth rate presented by the statistics office is the gross
\ngrowth rate but that the net growth is likely to be far lower,
\nespecially given that Indonesia's economy is still largely
\ndependent on the exploitation of its natural resources.<\/p>\n
But how does one calculate the depletion rate in order to
\narrive at the actual net economic growth rate?<\/p>\n
State Minister of Environment Sarwono Kusumaatmadja sad that
\naccording to the World Resource Institute, Indonesia's annual
\neconomic growth rate was only four percent after subtracting the
\nenvironmental factor from the official growth rate.<\/p>\n
Underlining the need for resource accounting, Sarwono pointed
\nout that the economic development should consider environmental
\naspects. He warned that economic development in the long term
\nwould have serious negative impacts unless careless exploitation
\nof natural resources was eliminated.<\/p>\n
Minister of Defense and Security Gen. Edi Sudradjat in his
\naddress to the conference also emphasized the need to include
\nenvironmental aspects in the country's development.<\/p>\n
Edi frowned upon the exploitation of forests as well as other
\nnatural resources in the \"creation\" of fast economic development.<\/p>\n
\"Don't be surprised to find out that the natural resources
\ndepletion rate is almost as much as the economic growth,\" he
\nsaid, adding that the depletion rate could surpass the growth
\nrate if environmental management remained inefficient.<\/p>\n
Problems hampering sustainable development concepts include
\npoor coordination among government officials - both in central
\nand regional levels - as well as in business circles and in the
\npublic, Sarwono said.<\/p>\n
Opened by President Soeharto and closed by Vice President Gen.
\nTry Sutrisno, the three-day meeting was held to harmonize the
\ngovernment's policies on environmental management and to review
\nsustainable development programs for the Second Long Term
\nDevelopment Program, which began last April and spans 25 years.<\/p>\n
State Minister for National Development Planning\/Chairman of
\nthe National Development Planning Board Ginandjar Kartasasmita
\nsaid Indonesia is striving to boost the people's welfare in the
\nnext 25 years and raise per capita income by four fold to $2,600.<\/p>\n
This, he said, means that Indonesia has to achieve an average
\nannual growth rate of seven percent.<\/p>\n
He was aware that it was not easy to realize the plans,
\nespecially now in view of fact that the economic growth rate
\nshould no longer be at the expense of environmental depletion.<\/p>\n
In order for the economy to move away from its strong
\ndependence on natural resources exploitation, the government is
\nnow putting greater emphasis on human resources development.<\/p>\n
\"Environment is more than an issue. It has become a
\nnecessity,\" Ginandjar said.<\/p>\n
Control<\/p>\n
Ginandjar said this calls for a more efficient use of natural
\nresources and for this, every project must be well planned and
\ncarefully executed.<\/p>\n
For the past few months, the National Development Planning
\nBoard and the Office of the State Minister of Environment, as
\nwell as the other government offices, have been drafting an
\nevaluation of environmental projects proposed by central and
\nregional government offices.<\/p>\n
The government has allocated Rp 2.6 trillion to finance
\nenvironmental projects for the Sixth Five-Year Development Plan,
\nwhich started in April. Out of the Rp 357 billion funds earmarked
\nfor the 1994\/1995, however, not more than Rp 8 billion is managed
\nby the office of the State Minister of Environment and the
\nEnvironmental Impact Management Agency (Bapedal). The rest is
\nunder the control of Ginandjar's office.<\/p>\n
Sarwono said that from the 1995\/1996, all of the environmental
\nbudget will be under the control of his office.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/environmental-damage-slows-economic-growth-1447893297",
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