AHY Reminds Development in Mandalika Must Not Sacrifice the Environment

Coordinating Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono (AHY) has reminded that development in all parts of Indonesia, including the Mandalika Special Economic Zone (KEK) in Central Lombok Regency, West Nusa Tenggara, must not sacrifice the environment. AHY was responding to the prevalence of development that disregards environmental impact, including the existence of illegal mining in tourist destination areas such as KEK Mandalika. “Anything that is illegal must be subject to firm and fair law enforcement. But this must apply to everyone, including in the Mandalika area,” he said after the Langit Biru Indonesia Asri event at Ampenan Beach, Mataram City, on Friday. He stated that, in principle, the future development paradigm must not solely pursue high economic growth while forgetting the sustainability of the environment’s carrying capacity for future generations. “Indeed, we want to pursue high economic growth, we want to improve the welfare of the people, but we must not sacrifice the environment. This is what is called the balance between prosperity and sustainability,” AHY asserted. According to him, efforts to balance development with welfare must be accompanied by serious efforts to maintain environmental sustainability, as all of this will ultimately be accounted for before the next generation. Therefore, AHY continued, prevention of all forms of damage is necessary, and extraction must not become excessive exploitation that destroys nature, let alone causes disasters in the future. “The most important and the best thing is to prevent damage before it occurs,” he said.