Emil calls on government to get rid of monopolies

DEPOK, West Java (JP): Former environment minister Emil Salim yesterday urged the government to scrap monopolies that restrain the business sector and hamper the free growth of the economy.

"Get rid of monopolies," Emil said. "We are facing a world without borders. And trade will be the major locomotive. If we don't want to stay behind, we must let the economy grow freely."

Emil Salim, who is also a professor at the University of Indonesia's School of Economics, was one of the speakers on the second day of a seminar on sustainable development at the University of Indonesia.

Emil said Indonesian people should be given the opportunity to operate in a free economy and answer the challenges posed by rapid globalization.

"Give people the opportunity to react. I strongly believe our people ... can absorb the changes and the global challenges," he said. "But it can only be done in a freely growing economy."

Asked whether the government could erase deeply ingrained monopolies from the domestic business sector, Emil said: "Like it or not, they will have to".

He said that global circumstances will force all governments to prepare for the changes.

The seminar was held by the Center of Sustainable Urban and Regional Development, a research center initiated by the University of Indonesia's Institute of Technology in cooperation with the University of Melbourne, Australia and the Commonwealth Scientific Industrial Research Organization.

In another part of his speech, Emil said that sustainable development is a must, if Indonesia wished to meet future global challenges successfully.

"Social and economic development have to go hand in hand," he said. "We don't only want...development. We want a sustainable urban and regional development."

He also rejected an earlier statement by Edwin Kawilarang, president of the Indonesian Real Estate Association who was a speaker on the seminar's first day, that sustainable development is not among the public's priorities.

"He's mistaken. Gearing development activities to only please consumers at all costs is a mistake," he said. "Development activities should heed various social and environmental considerations."

He cited as an example the poor development concept that has been employed in the Puncak resort area in West Java. The scenic mountainous areas are now crowded with luxurious villas built in a manner which degrades the environment and causes problems such as flooding in the lower areas such as Jakarta.

"The mess in Puncak is a burden to the public," Emil said.

Another speaker, Dorodjatun Kuntjoro-Jakti, from the same school, criticized the government for not putting its all into implementing the environmental impact assessment requirements in urban development.

"The laws and regulations issued by the government are not enough. I am ashamed to say that we do not even have one single city with a proper sewage system," he said. (06)