Civil society vital for sustained development: Emil
Civil society vital for sustained development: Emil
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia needs a strong civil society to sustain its development and survive the challenges of the 21st century, environmentalist Emil Salim said yesterday.
The first step to develop such a society is to empower people, he said. "Women, children and youths, indigenous people, non- governmental organizations, employees and laborers, farmers and scientists all need to be empowered," he said.
"Freedom of expression as guaranteed by the 1945 Constitution should therefore be implemented in the spirit of the time," Emil told a workshop cosponsored by the office of the State Minister of Environment and the United Nations Development Program.
Emil, a former state minister of environment, said the constitution's Article 28 on freedom to assemble and express opinions had created many laws before the world had heard of barrier-breaking modes of communication such as email.
The two-day workshop on Five Years After Rio: Indonesia's Strategy for Sustainable Development From Now until the 21st Century is being held at the Millennium Hotel here.
In his speech, Emil discussed various steps to establish a strong civil society.
He said people should be given freedom to be creative in implementing the constitution's Article 33 which says that the country's land, water and natural resources should be controlled by the state and exploited for the optimal benefit of the people.
Local and regional administrations should be given greater autonomy, he said. Local legislative councils and village deliberation forums should have the authority to control the exploitation of local natural resources.
"Local problems should be settled locally," he said.
He suggested the establishment of a national council for sustainable development to settle conflicts of interest in the management of natural resources.
"The council could serve as a medium for the empowered civil society, also called stake holders, to voice their aspirations," he said.
Emil said such councils -- which make recommendations to affect government policy -- had been established in the Philippines, Thailand and the United States.
Such council in Indonesia would ensure that the "flag of the environmental campaign does not fly only in the ministry of environmental affairs, but also in other offices," he said.
Emil also spoke on the results of 1992's Rio Earth Summit, which the government had translated into the Agenda 21-Indonesia Document which was launched yesterday.
He said, "The agenda should find itself incorporated in our next broad guidelines of state policies."
The People's Consultative Assembly will convene in March next year to elect a president, vice president and establish the five- yearly Broad Guidelines of State Policies.
The agenda mentions implications of social and economic development, including the need for equal distribution of and equal accessibility to natural resources, funding sources, technology, science, employment and marketing.
About 50 people, mostly environmentalists, attended the workshop. (aan)