Environmental studies not effective: Expert
Environmental studies not effective: Expert
JAKARTA (JP): An expert said environmental impact analysis studies are conducted too late to be effective.
Otto Sumarwoto, a former professor of environment at the Padjadjaran University in Bandung, on Sunday criticized the practice of separating the analysis, known by its local acronym of AMDAL, from the economic and technical feasibility studies.
The environmental impact analysis should be conducted as part of the feasibility studies of a project, he told a discussion on environment protection held by the Association of Muhammadiyah Students.
Instead, the analysis was as a mere formality, "as if only to establish the legitimacy of a project", he pointed out.
In consequence, such analyses have become quite ineffective, he told the Moslem students. Environmental degradation caused by the factories and real estate projects then become difficult and costly to contain, he said.
Environmental analysis studies are mandatory, to avoid unwanted effects of a project on the environment. The 1993 government decree incorporated environmental analysis studies into permits issued for projects.
It states that the studies are part of feasibility studies.
"The rules are already there," Otto said. He admitted, however, that the question of environment protection often does not rank high in factories or real estate' owners' priority.
"So, if a project is feasible economically, the environment impact studies are often conducted merely to satisfy the rules of the game," he said.
He cited numerous difficulties faced in enforcing the requirement for environmental impact analysis.
"Even after the studies are conducted, their results often go unheeded," Otto said.
Ignorance
An employee at an environmental consultancy agency, requesting anonymity, agreed. She told The Jakarta Post how results of environmental analysis, such as the health hazard posed by a cement plant on the surrounding community, are largely ignored by project owners.
She said a study on the cement plant did not cause so much as a stir at the administration of the city where the plant is located, because of the city's dependence on the company which has contributed greatly to the development effort there.
"Something which has adverse impacts on people's health or water cannot be taken lightly," she said. But she pointed out that the management of companies or factories will have satisfied decorum merely by saying that they have tried to minimize impacts.
Some projects' owners see polluted water as a necessary price to pay for development, she said.
Other speakers at the talks were Moslem leader M. Habib Chirzin, and Emil Salim, the former minister of environment. (anr)