Govt environmental audit improper, untimely: industry
Govt environmental audit improper, untimely: industry
Zakki P. Hakim, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Industry players slammed the government for requiring local
factories to comply with environmental regulations that exceed
the current capabilities of the firms.
"Better environmental management requires more sophisticated
and more expensive machinery and equipment, local firms can't
afford at the moment," Achmad Safiun, chairman of the Federation
of Indonesian Metalworking and Machine Industry Associations
(GAMMA), said on Tuesday.
His comment came following Monday's announcement of a 2004-
2005 government environmental audit conducted on 466 selected
firms. The audit shows that 150 of the firms had been given "red
labels" and 72 had been issued with "black labels" for not doing
enough in terms of environmental management.
Safiun said the government should first assist or direct the
firms to acquire better technology before requiring them to
comply with stricter environmental standards.
PT Pfizer Indonesia's director of public affairs, Daisy K.
Primayanti, told The Jakarta Post that the multinational
pharmaceutical firm was concerned with the audit results,
considering that it had been very strict and serious about its
environmental management.
"It's a red mark that will certainly affect our corporate
image," said Daisy, whose firm received a red label this year.
She argued that Pfizer had been given the red label as the
firm had been given very little time to comply with changes in
the technical requirements.
She said the firm supported the idea of improving
environmental management but expected the government to employ
better methods of disseminating information on environmental
regulations.
Daisy said foreign firms were familiar with environmental
standards and terminology, which was not the case with local
companies. "Local firms certainly need time to change their
paradigms and I believe that it will not be a cheap investment."
On Monday, State Minister of the Environment Rachmat Witoelar
revealed that 14 firms, mostly manufacturers in the textile,
paper and steel sectors, had already received two black labels
and that the government would give them one month to improve
their performance or they would be taken to court.
He said the black label firms would not be prosecuted if they
at least showed concrete measures or steps that would be taken to
improve matters, although they would remain in the "black"
category.
Separately, Minister of Industry Andung A. Nitimihardja said
the government would ensure that factories in the future be
located in industrial zones with waste treatment facilities,
which would enable firms to be more economical and efficient in
managing their waste.
"Industries must grow, but their compliance with environmental
standards must follow suit. We don't want to see industry players
neglect the environment," he told reporters.
Furthermore, the industry ministry's director general of
metal, machine, textile and miscellaneous industries, Ansari
Bukhari, said that many manufacturers were classified as having
poor environmental management as the regulations had developed
faster than the firms.
He said, however, that the government expected black-label
firms, especially those producing toxic waste, to at least inform
the government about where they were disposing of their waste.
He quickly added that he needed to meet officials from the
Office of the State Minister for the Environment to determine
what action could be taken by the industry ministry against the
firms.
The Corporate Environmental Management Assessment Program (PROPER)
was first started in 1995 before the government suspended it in
1997, citing economic and political constraints. The program was
resumed in 2002.
PROPER uses a color-coded system to categorize companies --
gold, green, blue, red and black -- with gold indicating
exemplary environmental performance and black a substandard
performance.