Environmental issues can't wait, says Nabiel

JAKARTA (JP): State Minister for the Environment Nabiel Makarim vows to fight to place environmental issues within the mainstream of the government's policies.

Speaking in a discussion on environmental problems here on Thursday night, he said that cooperation from related ministries was crucial to achieve the goal. It is also very critical in the effort to materialize the idea of sustainable development in the country, he added.

He said that environmental problems were not only the responsibility of his office but must also become the concern of other ministries.

"We know how bad is the condition of our environment. But I need cooperation from related ministries, environment activists and experts to determine what to do next. This is a struggle, but it cannot wait long.

"Unless strategic measures are taken in the next few years, our environment will be ruined. If any of you have any suggestions, I would like to hear them because I'm now an ear," he said.

The discussion, held by environmental activists and attended by members of the House of Representatives' Commission VIII dealing with, among other things, the environment, was aimed at gathering input for the newly installed minister.

Legislator Tubagus Haryono asserted that the government must shift the paradigm from considering the environment as one of the state's resources into making it the state's assets so as to stop the excessive exploitation of the environment.

He said that the government would soon submit a bill on resources management to the House. The bill is expected to strictly limit the use of the natural resources.

"There is a lot of overlapping in the existing laws on the management of natural resources, so there should be a higher law to overcome the problems," he added.

The weak law enforcement and the lack of legal power of the Environmental Impact Control Agency (Bapedal), which is chaired by a state minister, were also raised during the discussion.

Environmental activists urged Nabiel to uphold the law so the government can send a strong message to the perpetrators blamed for pollution, forest fires and illegal logging, concerns that have come to the forefront of national issues.

Mas Achmad Santosa, director of the Indonesian Center for Environmental Law (ICEL), pushed Nabiel not to merely handle violations case by case or to leave it to the law enforcement institutions, but to draw up an action plan to curb violations of environmental regulations.

Sandra Moniaga from Law and Society (HuMa) suggested that Nabiel correct the current situation where the resources management is mainly held by industries and foreign investors, by changing it into community-based resource management.

Separately on Tuesday, Nabiel's predecessor Emil Salim reminded the participants of the upcoming deadline for Indonesia to prove its commitment to the Consultative Group on Indonesia (CGI) last year on stopping forest fires and illegal logging.

"It's Nabiel's duty as minister to uphold the law and bring environmental issues to the center of the government's policy since environmental issues actually cut across several sectors," he told journalists. (bby)