Environment minister needs 'greater power'
JAKARTA (JP): State Minister of Environment Sarwono Kusumaatmadja said yesterday that whoever fills his post in the next cabinet should be given greater power to deal with environmental problems.
Responding to a call by a member of the House of Representatives, Sarwono fell short of calling for the establishment of a ministry of environment.
The minister in the next cabinet should be given "oversight" power, giving them the right to revoke licenses issued by other government agencies, he told a hearing with the House of Representatives.
Such power would have allowed him to revoke wood-use permits of plantation companies responsible for this year's forest fires, he said.
These permits were issued by the Ministry of Forestry.
He admitted that logically, a license could only be revoked by the agency which issued it, but with oversight power, like they have in the United States, a government official from a different agency could revoke the license in an emergency.
The hearing with members of House Commission V, which deals with environmental issues among others, reviewed the problem of forest fires and haze which have troubled Indonesia over the past few months.
A member of the commission suggested that Sarwono's office be converted into a full ministry in the next cabinet to enable it to deal with environmental problems, like the forest fires, more effectively.
Currently, the chief function of a state minister is one of coordination, not of regulating and enforcement like a full ministry. The current cabinet will be dissolved in March.
"I don't think turning the office into a full ministry will solve the problem," said Sarwono, who has served in two successive cabinets under President Soeharto.
"On the contrary, if the office becomes a full ministry, it will make the environment a separate sector. This will run counter to the environmental movement itself," he said.
"If you want to give the office more teeth, let's not talk about a full ministry. Let's talk about giving oversight power," he told reporters after the hearing.
Until the middle of October, fires had destroyed 96,694 hectares of forests and 121,626 hectares of plantation areas, according to a report issued by Sarwono's office.
Fires have also gutted 505 houses at settlement areas in South Sumatra, Central Kalimantan and South Kalimantan.
Four thousand flights have been canceled since August because haze reduced visibility in many airports in Sumatra and Kalimantan.
The Environmental Impact Management Agency said yesterday that certain areas in Sumatra were still affected by thick-to-medium haze. These included Jambi, West Sumatra and South Sumatra.
The agency said satellite images showed 15 remaining hot spots -- indicating forest fires -- in Sumatra, Kalimantan, Sulawesi and East Nusa Tenggara. (09)