'Environmental concerns not widely shared'
'Environmental concerns not widely shared'
JAKARTA (JP): Public and government indifference has hampered
the effectiveness of environmental campaigns, environmentalists
said yesterday.
Mas Achmad Santosa, director of the Indonesian Center for
Environmental Law, said the bureaucrats and the public had
peripheral values on the environment.
According to Achmad, many ministers ostentatiously urged
businesses to be environmentally responsible without truly caring
about the dangers of environmental destruction.
The public's awareness on environmental issues and
environmental dangers was scarcely sufficient to support the
campaigns, he said.
"People are only reminded of the importance of caring for the
environment when an ecological tragedy occurs," Achmad told The
Jakarta Post.
Faced with these challenges, environmental non-governmental
organizations are crucial because they push for greater public
pressure on environmental issues, Achmad said. But this task
seems to be hampered by the non conducive political climate.
"If we try to raise people's consciousness on their rights
when environmental degradation occurs, we will be labeled all
sorts of names," he said, referring to the government's
idiosyncratic way of labeling ideas which differ from its own as
leftist or communist.
According to Achmad, the existing environmental law provides a
good starting point for environmental campaigns. But there are
still problems with the coordination and control of watchdog
agencies.
Rusdian Lubis, the director for development control and
monitoring of environmental impact assessment from the
Environmental Impact Management Agency, said that some
environmental campaigns were hampered because some businesses did
not conduct environmental impact assessments.
The businesses wanting to build factories, which may produce
hazardous and toxic substances, are required to build waste
treatment facilities according to their business licenses.
"But in reality, many businessmen are given licenses without
ever conducting an (environmental) assessment," Achmad said.
Rusdian retorted that because of conflicting interests among
agencies, many businesses were given trial periods during which
assessments were conducted before their permanent licenses were
issued.
"Though we try to link business' permits with environmental
impact assessments, conflicts of interest among various agencies
loosen the control, especially when there are no sanctions for
not conducting the assessment," Rusdian said.
According to Rusdian, three reasons caused the ineffectiveness
of environmental impact assessments. They included different
perceptions on the importance of assessments, the lengthy
administrative process involved in the assessments and the
methodologies of the assessments.
"The government considers it a regulation, while businesses
consider it an additional burden which wastes time and money, so
they avoid it altogether," Rusdian explained.
The center for environmental law is helping the government
draft new bills.
"New regulations should be drafted in line with economic
deregulation," Achmad said. (14)