Govt defends plan to dissolve Bapedal<\/p>\n
Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The government defended its plan to merge the Environmental
\nImpact Control Agency (Bapedal) with the Office of the State
\nMinister of Environment Friday as the most efficient way of
\ncompliance with the reform movement.<\/p>\n
State Minister for Administrative Reforms M. Feisal Tamin
\nexplained that the merger will give more power to the Office of
\nthe State Minister of Environment -- not only to formulate a
\npolicy, but also to enforce it.<\/p>\n
\"Such a new formulation of the office will be stated in a
\npresidential decree on the merger; no decision has yet been taken
\nas the issue of the merger still constitutes discourse for now,\"
\nhe told reporters at his office.<\/p>\n
These remarks came after a closed-door meeting with State
\nMinister for the Environment Nabiel Makarim and protesting
\nactivists from groups including, among others, the Indonesian
\nForum for the Environment (Walhi), the Indonesian Center for
\nEnvironmental Law (ICEL), World Wildlife Fund Indonesia and the
\nIndonesian Biodiversity Foundation (Yayasan Kehati).<\/p>\n
The environmentalists questioned the reasons for the merger,
\nwhich they believed will not be beneficial to efforts to protect
\nthe environment and natural resources, since the office of the
\nstate ministry only has the authority to coordinate its
\nsubordinate body.<\/p>\n
Walhi chairwoman Emmy Hafild found that the draft of the
\npresidential decree, dated on Nov. 16, 2001, -- which was made
\navailable to her office -- failed to put Law No. 23\/1997 for the
\nestablishment of Bapedal into consideration.<\/p>\n
\"The office of the state minister and Bapedal are really two
\ndifferent institutions, but both can be held by the state
\nminister; the merger idea itself will be a violation of the law,\"
\nshe said.<\/p>\n
The activists met earlier with the Indonesian Democratic Party
\nfor Struggle (PDI-Perjuangan) faction at the House of
\nRepresentatives to seek support for the cancellation of the plan.<\/p>\n
Emir Moeis, vice chairman of the House's Commission VIII
\nsupervising, among others, environmental issues, said there will
\nbe a hearing on the issue.<\/p>\n
\"We're afraid that the merger will terminate the Bapedal's
\ncontrol function, while we understand that enforcement of the
\nenvironmental policy should be more powerful,\" he said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/govt-defends-plan-to-dissolve-bapedal-1447893297",
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