DKI the most irresponsible on environment affairs: Minister

DKI the most irresponsible on environment affairs: Minister

JAKARTA (JP): The city administration is the most
irresponsible provincial administration in the country in
reforming its environmental protection institutions, according to
State Minister of Environment Sonny Keraf.

Speaking at a seminar on environmental education for Jakarta
schools, Sonny said that his office had asked all provincial
administrations to reform institutions that oversaw environmental
protection in their respective areas.

Sonny said all other provincial administrations had given a
positive response to his office's request, but the Jakarta
administration seemed to be deliberately unresponsive.

"DKI Jakarta (the Jakarta administration) is always buying
time, trying to avoid the restructuring of the environmental
protection institutions.

"Maybe, DKI does this because of efficiency considerations,"
Sonny said at the seminar, organized by the Extension Program for
Learning and Research in cooperation with the Indonesian
Environmental Forum (Walhi).

Sonny said other provinces had planned to establish or reform
institutions to oversee environmental protection efforts.

Nevertheless, it has yet to be determined whether the
institution would be under the provincial administration or an
independent body outside it.

"In my opinion, it would be better to establish the
institution in the form of an independent body, because such a
body would have flexibility in its coordination with other
sectoral bodies," Sonny said.

He added that at the regency level, the environmental
protection institution could be established under the control of
the regency or mayoralty administration.

Besides, Sonny also revealed his office's talks with the
Ministry of National Education to introduce lessons about the
environment to junior and senior high schools across the country,
including those in Jakarta.

"But we have yet to reach an agreement with the ministry on
whether the environment lessons should be inserted into the
existing curriculum or be introduced through extra-curricular
programs," he said.

Nevertheless, he said he would prefer introducing
environmental issues through extra-curricular programs to
creating a new subject on the environment for school students.

Through such extra-curricular activities, students could be
involved in various environmental programs that would stimulate
students' interest in care of the environment.

If environmental issues were introduced to students as a
separate subject matter, Sonny, said, students would not develop
sufficient interest in the environment itself, but instead, would
merely try to achieve a good score in it as a curriculum subject.

"Lessons about the environment should not be introduced to
students theoretically; I would rather introduce environmental
issues through extra-curricular programs," he said. (01)