Australia supports pollution control

Australia supports pollution control

JAKARTA: Sixty graduates from Australian training programs in pollution control and environmental management were awarded their certificates on Saturday at the Australian embassy here.

Leslie Rowe of the embassy and Sukardi, vice chairman of the Environmental Impact Management Agency (Bapedal) presented the certificates, Antara reported.

The embassy said that under the bilateral cooperation activity Pollution Control Implementation Project, more than 200 Indonesian officials have participated in workshops, staff exchanges and formal studies in Australia.

Officials graduated in fields ranging from air pollution control, waste management, public awareness of pollution problems and industrial waste auditing, said the embassy.

In the ceremony, Rowe said Bapedal and its provincial counterparts were playing a very important role in helping protect and manage the environment in Indonesia.

The Pollution Control Implementation Project is the largest Australian bilateral aid activity in Indonesia's environmental sector, with a total budget of A$21 million.

The project is implemented through the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) and will end in June.

Three new Australian aid projects with a total budget of $25 million will commence in the next three months, it said.