Bruntland warns of pollution's pitfalls

Bruntland warns of pollution's pitfalls

JAKARTA (JP): Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland
is urging Indonesia to avoid repeating the mistakes of developed
countries in ignoring environmental conservation.

"It is we, in the West, who have developed at the expense of the
environment. We are stuck with the huge costs of cleaning up past
mistakes," Brundtland said yesterday, after signing the extension
of a 1990 Memorandum of Understanding on technical assistance.

Developing countries, she said, should "leap-frog past the
most polluting stages of development".

Brundtland also opened a one-day seminar on environmental
management and technology, which included the attendance of 27
Norwegian companies in that field.

The Memorandum of Understanding signed yesterday, between
Minister of Environment Sarwono Kusumaatmadja and Norwegian
Ambassador to Indonesia Jan Wessel Hegg, marked the third phase
of a bilateral agreement signed by the two countries in 1990.

The first phase included coastal and marine biodiversity
management and the second stage involved pollution control
programs, namely seabed mapping and oil spill contingency
planning.

Under this umbrella agreement, three more Memorandum of
Understandings were signed between private Norwegian companies
and Indonesian government institutions.

The first agreement, between The National Institute of
Sciences and Norwegian company Oceanor, is a feasibility study
for pollution elimination. The institute's chairman, Sofyan
Tsauri, said the study in the Brantas river in East Java may
develop into a model for other rivers.

The second Memorandum of Understanding is between Oceanor and
the National Space and Aviation Agency on a wind-based
electricity generating system for supplying electricity to rural
areas.

The third agreement, between the Directorate General of Sea
Transportation and Norway's Det Norske Veritas, covers a master
plan study for safety in sea transportation and managing marine
pollution.

Brundtland pointed out that mutual interests of cooperation in
environment technology lie in the oil industry.

Norway produces three million barrels of oil per day, Minister
of Mines and Energy, Jens Stoltenberg, said.

He said for the last 25 years Norway has been able to carry
out a profitable oil business, with environmentally sound
technology.

Brundtland said cooperation will also benefit Norway because
Indonesia "will become a leading industrial nation in the time
span of not much more than a generation".

Sarwono underlined Norway's genuine concern for environment
issues. He referred to Brundtland's chairmanship of the United
Nations Commission, which produced a document on sustainable
development called Our Common Future. (anr)