Bill to amend environmental law deemed unprogressive
JAKARTA (JP): Legal and environmental experts have said they doubt the bill to amend the environmental law will bring any significant progress because it barely addresses fundamental problems.
They proposed, at a seminar Thursday, the public be given greater participation in the decision-making processes of their communities and that an agency be established to monitor implementation of the law.
The bill is being scrutinized by the state secretariat who will submit it to the House of Representatives for deliberation.
"The bill is not much different from several laws made thirty years ago," Bambang Widjojanto, executive director of the Foundation of Indonesian Legal Aid Institute (YLBHI) said at the discussion for the draft law.
Bambang said agrarian and mining laws, passed in 1960 and 1967 respectively, give a mandate to the people to exploit the land and natural resources, but in practice this activity is monopolized by the government.
"There is no punitive action taken if the government fails to abide by laws," Bambang said.
Some participants said the bill catered only to industrial- related problems like pollution, waste disposal, environmental management and auditing.
"The bill should also include at least precautionary procedures for the possible dangers resulting from genetic engineering," Hira Jhamtani, executive director of the National Consortium for Forest and Nature Conservation in Indonesia (Konphalindo), told The Jakarta Post.
Law number 5/1994 which ratifies the international Convention on Biodiversity, is not given enough attention, according to Hira.
"Just because the dangers are not known does not mean that it is safe, the hazards of biological engineering may not surface until a generation or more later when the results may turn out to be biological pollution," Hira said.
The current law on the environment passed in 1982 is considered ineffective by many because it regulates a very broad range of interests.
"It is impossible, however, to dissect it into sections needing only particular sector coordination," Koesnadi Hardjasoemantri, one of the authors of the current draft law said, adding that the bill is an attempt to mend flaws in the current law and is not a total revision.
The seminar, attended by representatives from seven NGOs, suggested the law needed to include people's meaningful participation, people's right to access information, and establishment of a monitoring agency to monitor environmental laws.
"Every law has loopholes. I would suggest that boosting the morality of law enforcers would be better than revising the law," said Stefanus Haryanto, a law lecturer at Parahyangan University in Bandung.
Access
Surna T. Tjajadiningrat, a senior aide to the state minister for environment, said access to information is fundamental to increasing public participation.
He said he is exasperated whenever he hears people complain about the difficulty of attaining information on environmental issues from government agencies.
"Why do you people like to bang your heads against the wall when you know that it is ineffective?" Surna said.
Arimbi Heroeputoetri, deputy director of the Indonesian Environmental Forum (Walhi), called for a transparent, formal, system enabling people to access information on environmental matters.
"Access to information is essential to participation," Arimbi said, adding the draft of the bill could have been distributed to the public.
Mas Achmad Santosa, executive director of the Indonesian Center for Environmental Law, said weak enforcement of the environmental law is mainly caused by a lack of legal practitioners knowledge about environmental problems.
He proposed establishing environmental divisions in legal institutions such as specialized judges and prosecutors for handling environmental lawsuits. (06)