Govt 'egoism' cited in environmental damage

Govt 'egoism' cited in environmental damage

JAKARTA (JP): Egoism in government agencies and the resulting
competition among their vested interests are significant factors
in environmental destruction and chaotic conservation management,
environmentalists said on Wednesday.

The weak excuse of the lack of resources to cover the vast
archipelago has been relied upon to answer critics' accusations
the government lacked seriousness about conservation management,
a report by the Indonesian Center for Environmental Law (ICEL)
said.

It stated, however, that "a more basic issue is sectoral
egoism, either in or between departments in charge of
conservation management... and other agencies with interests in
exploitation of conservation areas".

It cited the Ministry of Forestry and Plantations and its
related government agencies. Among several instances of
environmental destruction, the report referred to the forest
fires of 1997 and 1998 which destroyed 627,280 hectares.

Various policies and regulations have been conveniently used,
sometimes in contradiction of each other, to justify large scale
exploitation, the report said.

The report championed decentralization as essential to save
fast-deteriorating natural resources and the ecosystem.

"Significant changes in regulations have to be made soon.
Overlapping policies resulting in chaotic management of natural
conservation must be stopped," said Sulaiman N. Sembiring, head
of case advocacy at ICEL.

He cited mining at the Kutai National Park in East Kalimantan
and the Lorentz National Park in Irian Jaya, an activity illegal
according to the 1990 law on conservation of living resources and
the ecosystem.

However, the activities were permitted according to a 1989
joint decree of the forestry ministry and the mines and energy
ministry, he said. It regulates mining activities in forest
areas.

The 1990 law should include recognition and guarantee of local
people's rights and participation in conservation activities, and
access to information concerning natural conservation areas,
Sembiring said. "We all know that the centralized policy on
natural conservation has failed."

In his presentation on the study conducted from last September
to January, Sembiring said the 1990 law referred to the
responsibilities of provincial governments, but no subsequent
regulations were ever drawn up to put them into effect.

Clause 38 of the law states the government can delegate part
of its tasks to provincial or regional governments for the
purpose of conservation.

Sembiring also said the 1989 decree on mining in forest areas
regulated that protected areas under exploration at the time they
were proposed for national park status could be exempted from the
1990 law.

Sembiring noted that since the joint decision came into
effect, private companies used it to justify exploration of
protected areas. He called for the 1989 decree to be revoked.

ICEL coordinator Mas Achmad Santosa urged the government to
soon establish policies for democratic and transparent natural
resource management.

Yaman Mulyana, program director of the Directorate General on
Natural Conservation and Protection of the forestry ministry,
said the ministry was preparing technical guidance on the use of
natural conservation areas in conjunction with non-governmental
organizations.

Recent hardwood looting in protected forests in Jepara,
Central Java, he said, reflected low environmental awareness due
to lack of information.

Sembiring countered that backing of authorities and parties
seeking profit were also responsible. (edt)