Environmentalist laments campaigns

JAKARTA (JP): The country's three political parties came under fire yesterday from an environmentalist for failing to include environmental issues in their campaign platforms.

Sudharto P. Hadi, the head of Diponegoro University's Center for Environmental Studies, said in Semarang, Central Java, that this meant the United Development Party, Golkar and the Indonesian Democratic Party had little awareness of environmental issues.

Few incoming House of Representatives members were conscious of increasingly complicated environmental issues, he claimed. "These issues are also closely related to politics," he said.

He pointed to the use of ISO certificates to ensure environmental protection. Indonesian companies which neglect the environment cannot gain ISO 14000 certification, potentially harming their sales in foreign markets, particularly in developed countries.

He also cited a number of developed countries whose political parties compete to come up with the best environmental development programs for fear of being labeled "conservative."

Antara also reported from Surabaya, East Java, that 40-odd environmentalists would gather in Mojokerto between June 11 and 13 to discuss a provincial antipollution campaign.

Syafruddin N.S., who chairs the Yayasan Lingkungan Hidup Peduli Indonesia, said the gathering was expected to help sharpen the activists' vision, find common ground, improve contacts and develop concrete plans.

The activists are also to discuss the difficulties encountered in environmental law enforcement.

From Yogyakarta, the news agency reported that local lawyers have asked that environmental preservation be included in school curricula. It quoted Budi Santoso of the Yogyakarta Legal Aid office as saying yesterday that even primary school children had to be given an environmental education.

In a statement marking International Environment Day, Budi said the inclusion of environmental studies in primary school curricula would help nurture young people's awareness of their surroundings.

He said that enforcement of environmental laws was still lax. "This is why the effort to reduce pollution rates has yet to succeed," he said. "The punishment for environmental polluters is still too lenient."

It was reported in April that the government had drafted a bill which seeks to empower it to order companies to carry out environmental audits. Under the bill, containing amendments to the 1982 Environmental Law, auditing can become compulsory instead of voluntary.

The government hoped the new law will be stringent enough to give the government a tool to clobber entrepreneurs who refuse to comply with the law.

Submitted to the House of Representatives on Jan. 29, the bill does not stipulate the kind of enterprises that will be required to conduct environmental audits, leaving that decision to the government. (swe)