Environment Minister gathers activists in Bali to study local environmental management

Denpasar (ANTARA) - Environment Minister and Head of the Environmental Control Agency Jumhur Hidayat gathered environmental activists in Denpasar to learn from Bali’s successes. “I am the one who must learn from the community here, because it is not true that the government knows everything. There are many things, local wisdom, local genius, that we may not know, especially the central government,” said Environment Minister Jumhur Hidayat in Denpasar on Tuesday. To that end, the Environment Minister collected success stories of environmental management, such as at Tukad Bindu in Denpasar, where activists successfully transformed the riverbank area into a green zone. “The local wisdom present at Tukad Bindu in managing the river is something I want to learn from, and then there will be a cultural dialogue with other regions which might be adopted as a way to manage rivers and this beautiful environment,” Jumhur Hidayat said. The Environment Minister believes that to seriously address environmental issues, bold and sacrificial actions are needed. “Like here there is Gung Nik who is a bit crazy, reckless, brave, and willing to sacrifice. There are actually many in the community who can educate from upstream to downstream, who can manage a river this cleanly with existing local wisdom,” Jumhur Hidayat stated. Seeing the actions of environmental activists in Bali, particularly in Denpasar, the Environment Minister confirmed he will support training agendas and promised grants for environmental education purposes. He views education as important, rather than displacing businesses or groups that do not yet understand environmental stewardship. For example, in Denpasar City, the city government has 200 rubbish trucks, while the private sector manages 700 fleets. Instead of disrupting private operations, it is better to provide education so they can also transform. Denpasar Mayor IGN Jaya Negara feels Denpasar is not yet perfect in its environmental handling, but he assured that the Denpasar city government continuously educates the community about the risks of dumping rubbish into rivers as the root of the problem. The current challenge is that local governments need central government support to assist environmental groups, as so far they have only been able to use CSR funds.