Environmental analysis a must for new industries

BANDUNG (JP): Starting on Tuesday, new industries are subject to the Environmental Impact Analysis (Amdal) to be conducted by a commission which involves local communities, a government regulation stipulates.

State Minister of the Environment Sonny Keraf introduced the regulation here on Monday when he addressed an environment conference at the Bandung Institute of Science.

The government, he said, established the commission tasked with the analyses at national, provincial and municipality levels in line with the full implementation of regional autonomy in January next year.

"The commission will involve the public, including non- governmental organizations, environmental study centers and informal leaders," Sonny said.

He said, however, that the regulation could be hampered by political interests from certain parties who would exploit it for investment and economic growth reasons.

"In the past, Pak Emil objected to environmental audits on certain industries, but he had to accept them because of reasons not related to the environment," Sonny said, referring to former state minister of the environment Emil Salim.

Sonny called on businessmen not to worry about the new ruling since it would not be difficult for them to pass the analysis.

He further said the government would also initiate next year seven important measures to preserve the environment, including a clean river program.

"The clean river program will deal with the quality and quantity of river water," Sonny said.

Another program is called the Blue Sky campaign, with a target of stopping the use of leaded gasoline until 2003. (23/jun)