Govt launches environment fund
Tb. Arie Rukmantara, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The government announced on Tuesday it would provide for the first time special funds to help selected regional administrations preserve their local environments.
A total of Rp 112.5 billion (US$11.2 million) of special funds, called the Special Allocation Fund for the Environment (DAK LH), had been allotted in the 2006 state budget.
State Minister for Environment Rachmat Witoelar said the funds would be distributed to 330 cities and regencies in 30 provinces that needed support to preserve their natural resources and environment.
State Minister for Environment Rachmat Witoelar said this was the first time such special allocation funds had been designated for the environment. The funds would act as a stimulant to improve regional administrations' performance in carrying out sustainable development.
"This program is not just a serious commitment by the central government to protect our environment, but it is also an expression of concern about the minimal amount of funds allocated by regional administrations to protect their natural resources and environment," he said, after officiating at the launch of the special allocation fund.
Secretary to the Office of the State Minister for Environment Arief Yuwono explained that for 2006, each of the selected cities and regencies would get between Rp 300 million and Rp 1.7 billion to be spent on prevention, restoration and monitoring of their rivers.
"As the nation faces a serious water crisis, next year's funds would only be distributed to improve water quality in the regions," he said, adding that the funds would be disbursed on Jan. 2.
"But the money will only go to cities and regencies that we consider fiscally and technically unable to preserve their environment with their own money."
He said that around 100 municipalities and three provinces -- Jakarta, Riau and East Kalimantan -- would not receive any of the funds as his office considered their budget allocations for the environment to be relatively high.
"We will only support regional administrations with budget allocations for the environment of less than Rp 50 million," he said.
The state ministry's regulation on technical guidance for DAK LH 2006 usage stipulates that the funds can only be used for the procurement of water quality monitoring devices.
However, according to the 2006 state budget, the amount represents only 1 percent of the total Rp 10 trillion in special allocation funds designated to education, agriculture, health, maritime and fisheries, construction of regional facilities and infrastructure.
The executive director of the Indonesian Forum for Environment (Walhi) Chalid Muhammad slammed the policy, saying that such a small amount of money would be better used for improving the capacity of regional staff to deal with environmental issues.
"About 89 percent of our rivers are heavily damaged. The budget is not sufficient to restore all of them. Moreover, rivers are trans-regional; restoring their condition can't be solved by sectoral (means). There must be an integrated effort ... Distributing money to regional administrations won't solve the problem," he said.
Chalid suggested that the funds be used to educate officials in regional administrations and the community generally about environmental issues.