Govt introduces new environmental rating system<\/p>\n
Debbie A. Lubis, Contributor, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The idea of strolling along a riverbank to soothe your eyes or
\nease your mind has always been wishful thinking for Jakarta
\nresidents. Rotting trash, waste and sewage from factories,
\nhotels, housing estates, and slums make Jakarta's water look and
\nsmell foul.<\/p>\n
The government has issued numerous rules and regulations on
\nwaste management and environmental protection since the 1990s but
\nlegal enforcement has been weak. A recent study conducted by the
\nMinistry of Environment has shown that only one quarter of
\nindustrial companies comply with those rules.<\/p>\n
These conditions have forced the ministry to revive its
\nProgram for Pollution Control, Evaluation and Rating (PROPER)
\nthat was introduced in 1994 but stopped in 1998 due to
\nunfavorable circumstances.<\/p>\n
\"We were afraid the people would react negatively to the audit
\nreport since circumstance could lead them to vandalize or loot
\nthe polluters' office or factory,\" said Rasio Ridho Sani,
\nsecretary of the PROPER technical team.<\/p>\n
The ministry will soon release a report on the PROPER
\nenvironmental audit that was conducted last year, which is
\nslightly different than the 1994 project that emphasized water
\npollution.<\/p>\n
The main objective of last year's audit was to increase
\ncompliance with environmental regulations (including hazardous
\nwaste, water, air and soil pollution, and to promote the adoption
\nof clean technologies, create incentives for polluters to
\nstrengthen their environmental management capabilities, community
\ndevelopment, and to support ISO 14000 certification (on
\nEnvironmental Management System)).<\/p>\n
\"ISO 14000 is given to companies that have shown their
\ncommitment and efforts to comply with Environmental Law. But is
\npossible that an ISO certificate holder is considered a polluter
\nbased on PROPER assessment because the audit relies on samples
\nfrom the field,\" he said. He added that a company can be given a
\npoor rating not simply because it has harmed the environment but
\nalso if it has the potential to harm the environment.<\/p>\n
The 2002 audit was conducted on only 85 selected companies
\nbecause of constraints on the government's financial and human
\nresources.<\/p>\n
The companies are chosen from selected industries that have
\nthe potential to harm the environment such as textiles, cement,
\npulp and paper, mineral and coal, oil and gas, and sugar and palm
\noil. The companies are located in provinces of West Java, Banten,
\nEast Java, Central Java, Lampung, Riau, Bangka Belitung, South
\nSumatra, Aceh, South Sulawesi, North Sulawesi, South Kalimantan,
\nEast Kalimantan, and West Nusa Tenggara.<\/p>\n
Under PROPER, polluters are given environmental performance
\nratings that will be announced to the public through special
\nreports on media and the Ministry of Environment's website.<\/p>\n
The ratings use a simple color-coding format that grades the
\ncompany's environmental performance from excellent to worst.<\/p>\n
It is expected that by disclosing the ratings pressure from
\nsociety and the private sector will coerce the polluters to
\ncomply with environmental regulations and reduce pollution levels
\nto meet the emission standards.<\/p>\n
The pressures range from boycotting the products of the
\npolluters to imposing legal sanctions.<\/p>\n
\"This approach is more effective and cheaper than legal
\nenforcement because companies are more afraid of tainting their
\nreputation than the judiciary system. It takes years and costs a
\nlot of money to settle one environmental case through law
\nenforcement. With PROPER, it is the stakeholders -- the
\ncommunity, NGOs, policy makers, the business sector, and
\ninternational funding agencies- who will judge the polluters,\"
\nRasio said.<\/p>\n
Countries such as the Philippines, Mexico, and Colombia have
\nused PROPER's principles to design pollution control measures.
\nPublic information and community participation in PROPER have
\nbeen considered successful in combining voluntary compliance
\nagreements, negotiated settlements, legal sanctions and market
\nincentives to coerce companies to comply with Environmental
\nRegulations.<\/p>\n
The first-round PROPER ratings in 1995 showed that
\nmultinationals had the best performance, private domestic firms
\nhad the worst, and public enterprises were in between.<\/p>\n
In a bid to avoid the risk of biased ratings, several steps
\nwere taken to ensure accurate assessments. The Ministry of
\nEnvironment established a rigorous overall rating process
\ninvolving several high-level reviews (peer review among technical
\nteam members and a review by senior officials) before the public
\ndisclosure of final ratings. This process is aided by reliable
\nanalysis from the Advisory Board over the companies' compliance
\nrating status.<\/p>\n
Currently, PROPER's Advisory Board consists of credible
\nfigures like environmentalist Prof. Dr. Otto Sumarwoto, academic
\nProf. Dr Muladi, environmentalist Sarwono Kusumaatmadja, Tom
\nWalton of World Bank, Agus Purnomo of WWF, M. Achmad Santoso of
\nICEL, and Isa Karmisa Adiputra, Deputy for Environmental Impact
\nManagement from Institutional Sources at the Ministry of
\nEnvironment.<\/p>\n
Since the introduction of PROPER, polluters have been under
\ngreat pressure to change their complacent attitude towards
\npollution control since good ratings enhance the reputation of
\ntheir business.<\/p>\n
Between 1995 and 1997 the program helped increase the level of
\ncompliance 10 percent from 213 industries that were involved in
\nthe environmental audit. Several polluters succeeded in improving
\ntheir ratings several levels.<\/p>\n
\"The environmental performance reflects the overall
\nperformance of the company's management. If the company's rating
\nis good, the banking system will not be reluctant to give them
\nfinancial assistance while investors will be confident to invest
\ntheir because the rating guarantees that the company is
\nsustainable and a small risk\".<\/p>\n
However, public disclosure may have little impact on
\npersistent polluters who do not care about their reputations. The
\nState Minister of the Environment Nabiel Makarim, said during the
\nhearing session with the House of Representatives' Commission
\nVIII on Environment that the government can consider imposing
\nsanctions on companies that cause environmental damage through
\nspecial chambers in district courts. The first analysis will be
\nconducted in Java, Sumatra and Kalimantan.<\/p>",
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