Corruption has contributed to flooding

Corruption has contributed to flooding

This year we have still to see the worst of the floods. Former
state minister for the environment and professor in business
ethics Sonny Keraf, who served in the Cabinet of former president
Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid, shares his views on environmental
policy with The Jakarta Post contributor Dwi Iswandono.

Question: What is your comment on the recent floods?

Answer: The floods have been caused by human behavior. The root
of this disaster is morality, as displayed in the form of bad
practice in government, private enterprise and society. Such
actions have ignored all the regulations we made to safeguard the
environment.

Violated regulations particularly relate to permits -- which
has resulted in illegal logging. As far as I know the issue (of
illegal logging) was highlighted three times in Cabinet meetings
(under Gus Dur) and once within the office of the coordinating
minister for security and political affairs, given the wide
extent of the problem -- affecting legal, security and political
matters.

Another root of the disaster is corruption, related to members
of the military (TNI) and the police. I assume the corruptors
felt secure due to military backup. At that time, the
perpetrators continued to reap benefits from those practices.

As long as the TNI and police leadership do not take any
serious action with their members, the disasters will continue.

Q: Do you see other causes of the floods?

A: A third factor is foreign debt, which has also played a
significant role in deforestation and environmental destruction.
Foreign debts eventually became a heavy responsibility, which
compelled us to take short cuts to be able to pay debts and
interest by exploiting natural resources -- our forests and mines
bordering forest areas. Hence floods and landslides have
continued to occur.

The licensing of Pantai Indah Kapuk, a luxury housing
development scheme on Jakarta north's coast, which has caused
flooding annually, is another striking example of abuse of power.

Despite continual denials from the Jakarta municipality, I
agree with the nongovernmental organizations (NGOs): The floods
that afflicted thousands of residents living along the toll road
to Soekarno-Hatta International Airport were closely linked to
the project.

The floods were not natural disasters, but manmade ones. It's
the inevitable consequence of our mistakes in handling nature,
especially forests. It is, quite simply, bad governance.

Q: How would you evaluate the government?

A: There are some opportunities. I see that Pak (Muhammad)
Prakosa (Minister of Forestry) has taken some positive measures.
We need to wait for his consistency in coordinating cooperation
between the parties responsible for environmental maintenance,
especially via the office of the coordinating minister for
security and political affairs. Resolute steps are required to
punish perpetrators of mass deforestation or illegal logging. So,
he needs support from the President and the coordinating minister
(Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono).

As acknowledged by legislators, the "mafia" in this area is
very hard to eradicate.

One positive step that Prakosa has made has been to implement
"corrections" within his own ministry. But again it will only be
successful if other parties are also equally committed and
consistent. It's not that easy as the style of government, both
under President Megawati Soekarnoputri and Gus Dur, has not yet
changed. Its moral commitment toward law enforcement is so weak
that it has become the main obstacle to punishing the
perpetrators.

Law enforcement is in the hands of the judiciary and the
police, not Prakosa or the state minister for the environment
(Nabiel Makarim).

Q: What other opportunities are there to act on environmental
destruction?

A: Another opportunity is regional autonomy. Despite problems,
the district courts will gain enough autonomy to make
breakthroughs, with a higher moral commitment toward handling
such cases. An example is the Bangkinang district court in Riau
province, which succeeded in sentencing the guilty party in the
case of the forest fires that occurred in September last year.

This was a result of our efforts in working with the district
courts in the regions so that they would have the moral courage
to punish guilty parties.

So, despite so many problems in the face of slow bureaucratic
reform there is a chance of a breakthrough. The efforts of the
ministry of forestry and the state minister for the environment
must continue, to encourage regional officials in their tasks.

Therefore, by the time the handling of such cases is no longer
under the authority of the central government, the district and
high courts will have acquired much more courage.

Q: The NGOs that have worked within the environment during all these
years still seem to be ineffective. Your comment?

A: This is because the government's paradigm has not changed. The
government claims it is the most knowledgeable agent in reaching
decisions. The NGOs simply shout without being able to influence
public policy -- and the result is that all government policies
tend to prioritize economic considerations. Not that I'm against
development, but if environmental protection is not part of those
policies we'll always get the same (environmentally damaging)
results.

The Gus Dur government continued to follow a proindustry
approach. Investment was always the higher priority. It therefore
accommodated private parties that damaged the environment and
ignored the aspirations of society at large.