More 'green' carrots than stick in 1995<\/p>\n
By Ati Nurbaiti<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The environmental conservation campaign saw a
\nmore mundane government approach in 1995 and a more aggressive
\ndrive by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
There were hardly any significant new environmental
\nregulations introduced and disappointingly few environmental
\ncourt cases prosecuted during the 12 months, as the government
\nappeared to resort more to using the carrot than the stick.<\/p>\n
It was left to the NGOs to seize the initiative to pursue the
\ncampaign with vigor, exposing and prosecuting alleged culprits.<\/p>\n
The year 1995 saw the withdrawal of the National Commission on
\nHuman Rights from dealing with environmental issues because it
\nwas overwhelmed with more politically-charged human rights
\nissues. Previously, people whose lives had been affected by the
\nconstruction of high-voltage power lines above their homes, had
\nfound sympathetic ears in the commission.<\/p>\n
With the government taking a more passive stand and the police
\nand state prosecutors still learning to master environmental laws
\nand regulations, the NGOs are about the only forums people could
\nturn to when they feel their lives are being affected by
\nenvironmental degradation.<\/p>\n
Among the most prominent NGOs in highlighting environmental
\ncases this year were the Indonesian Forum for the Environment
\n(Walhi) and the Indonesian Center for Environmental Law.<\/p>\n
The government has come to recognize the role that these NGOs
\nplay, given their ability to translate, articulate and
\ncommunicate the concerns of the ordinary people they represent in
\nenvironmental cases and other cases for that matter.<\/p>\n
Such acceptance of the NGO's roles is not without reservation.
\nThe government is still wary and suspicions of possible political
\nmotives on the part of the NGOs. At lower levels of government,
\nthis means a security eye on anyone involved, either the
\nvillagers making the complaints, or the NGO activists working
\nwith them.<\/p>\n
The role of the courts of law this year was limited when it
\ncame to environmental protection. And the few cases that reached
\ncourts should also be analyzed with caution.<\/p>\n
Take the case of the lawsuit filed by PT Samudra Farmindo Luas
\nat the North Jakarta District Court last August against five
\ncompanies -- PT Indah Kiat Pulp and Paper, PT Onward Paper Utama,
\nPT Cipta Paperia, PT Sekawan Maju Pesat and PT Picon Jaya -- for
\nallegedly polluting the Ciujung River in Serang, West Java.<\/p>\n
The plaintiff, Samudra's president, Iskandar Alisyahbana,
\ndisclosed that he had been offered the chance to bribe the judge
\nto secure an early judgment in his favor.<\/p>\n
He refused, and the case is now still being tried. The
\nincident serves as a reminder to everyone concerned to be
\ncritical in looking at environmental lawsuits.<\/p>\n
State Minister of Environment Sarwono Kusumaatmadja, who is
\nleading the government's environmental conservation drive, knows
\nthat the odds are heavily stacked against him: Distrust of the
\ncourts, ignorance and a low level of environmental awareness,
\ntranslating "sustainable development" into supportive policies
\namong other government agencies and changing people's habits are
\njust a few of the challenges he is facing.<\/p>\n
"It may take several generations," Sarwono concedes.<\/p>\n
The minister has also been cautious in his approach to
\nindustrialists, a powerful political lobby and the biggest
\nculprits when it comes to environmental degradation.<\/p>\n
Rather than threatening them with prosecution or public
\nexposure, he has been hammering home the message that it is in
\ntheir own self interest to fall in line quickly if they want to
\nsurvive the stiff competition in their export markets.<\/p>\n
The global market will not wait very long for them to keep up
\nwith clean production standards, he said. "It's really up to you
\nwhether you want to meet these standards," Sarwono said.<\/p>\n
Ecolobeling<\/p>\n
Industrialists must catch up with the environmental-conscious
\nconsumers, particularly in their export markets, where compliance
\nwith minimum environmental standards, or ecolabeling, as it is
\nnow called, is of utmost importance.<\/p>\n
Sarwono said the government's environmental campaign approach
\nstresses self-regulation rather than imposition of regulations.
\n"A legal approach is important, but it isn't enough," he said.<\/p>\n
Sarwono's office this year finally launched the long-awaited
\nprogram of rating companies based on their performance in
\nconserving the environment in their surroundings. So far,
\nhowever, he has only announced the "good guys" and awarded them
\naccordingly as a kind of incentive for others to follow suit.<\/p>\n
Sometime next year he hopes to expose the "bad guys".<\/p>\n
The rating system assigned five different colors to each
\ncompany assessed, from gold for the best performers, to black for
\nworst offenders. None of the more than 100 companies assessed for
\nthe rating system this year qualified for gold, a color reserved
\nfor those considered to have installed air pollution control,
\nwaste water recycling and clean production technology.<\/p>\n
But five won the green rating, the next best to gold, for
\ntheir efforts in improving the quality of their waste water. They
\nare PT Indah Kiat Pulp and Paper, PT Pindad, the state arms
\nmanufacturer in Bandung, West Java, PT Tifico and PT Kumafiber,
\nboth textile producers in Tangerang, and PT Cheil Samsung Astra,
\nwhich produces monosodium glutamate in Pasuruan, East Java.<\/p>\n
Sarwono announced that 61 companies got the blue rating, 115
\nred and six black. But he has refrained from going public with
\ntheir names.<\/p>\n
For the coming year, the Agency for Environmental Impact
\nAnalysis and Management (Bapedal), which is chaired by Sarwono,
\nis studying 231 companies for its rating system.<\/p>\n
With the increasing load of work, this agency is now
\nincreasingly feeling the need to expand its staff. It currently
\nhas 10 experts, hardly sufficient to run the rating program.<\/p>\n
Bapedal's credibility came into question last month when a
\nfood seasoning factory in East Java became the target of a riot
\nby a group of farmers who accused it of polluting the Rejoso
\nRiver and affecting their shrimp ponds.<\/p>\n
The company in question, PT Cheil Samsung Astra, which is a
\nSouth Korean joint venture, was one of the five firms rated
\n"green" in June.<\/p>\n
Later investigations by Bapedal determined that the pollution
\ndid not originate from Cheil Samsung Astra.<\/p>\n
"I will not withdraw the green rating," Sarwono said when
\ncommenting about the incident.<\/p>\n
But the rating system has not impressed PT Indah Kiat Pulp and
\nPaper, one of the five companies rated green.<\/p>\n
In a discussion at the Kompas daily, Indah Kiat director Njauw
\nKwet Meen, said it has not made one little bit of difference to
\nthe company's stock prices.<\/p>\n
He said he had hoped for a better image, and better sales
\nfollowing the announcement, but neither has happened yet.<\/p>\n
So far the rating system program has been limited to companies
\nthat discharge their waste into rivers. Bapedal already has grand
\ndesigns to expand the rating, to include real estate developments
\nand hotels.<\/p>\n
Real estate developments were among the first targets of the
\ngovernment's environmental campaign this year when President
\nSoeharto, at the urging of Sarwono, gave the green light to the
\nauthorities in Bandung, West Java, to punish developers, most of
\nwhom had strong political backing, for building houses in water
\ncatchment areas.<\/p>\n
Early this month, President Soeharto also warned mining
\nconcerns that the government would not hesitate to move against
\nthem if their operations turned out to threaten the environment.<\/p>\n
He made this remark when inaugurating a new town built by PT
\nFreeport Indonesia, a giant American gold and mining company,
\nnear its concession in Irian Jaya.<\/p>\n
Freeport, which has been at the center of one or two
\nenvironmental disputes, was later commended by President Soeharto
\nfor investing heavily in an expensive special laboratory to
\nmonitor the environmental impact of its operation.<\/p>",
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