Govt urged to involve public in policies

JAKARTA (JP): Environmentalists have warned that without public participation, some World Bank-funded environmental policies were doomed to fail.

Mas Achmad Santosa and Hira Jhamtani urged members of the public on Friday to take a critical look at the issue. They cited how industrial sector policies had been pried open through Indonesia's adoption of International Monetary Fund (IMF) programs which had consequently led the country's natural resources to practically be overexploited.

"Political parties must make the issue a priority," Santosa, executive director of the Indonesian Center for Environmental Law (ICEL), said at a news conference.

Six government regulations are currently being deliberated by the Environmental Impact Management Agency (Bapedal) of the office of environment ministry. Santosa claims the regulations will soon become the "next casualties" and would fail because the public has not been consulted.

The regulations concerned are on toxic waste; air pollution; water pollution; sea pollution; environmental impact analysis; and out-of-court environmental dispute settlements.

The regulations -- expected to become effective bylaws of the much-praised No. 23/1997 Law on Environmental Management -- are slated to be endorsed on Feb. 9.

The first casualty cited by the green activists was a government regulation on forest concessions issued Jan. 27 by the forestry ministry. Jhamtani of the National Consortium for Nature and Forest Conservation in Indonesia (Konphalindo) said the decree was "made without public involvement".

Santoso said the regulation was no better than a previous ruling produced in 1970 -- which many experts said failed to protect the environment.

Jhamtani also used the media conference to draw attention to how President B.J. Habibie's administration has given low priority to environmental protection, as shown by the appointment of Panangian Siregar as state minister of environment.

Rather than launching strict measures, the minister recommended -- through Bapedal which he chairs -- the importation of clay waste from Singapore. He dismissed environmentalists' and local people's criticism about the move by saying it was simply a "business" matter.

Jhamtani argued it was the very reason why both the IMF and the World Bank should demand transparency in environmental policies when they extend future aid packages.

Otherwise, she said, "the two bodies would only be sponsoring environmental destruction". She cited the controversial development of Kedungombo Dam in Central Java in the 1990s, where thousands of impoverished villagers were forced to relocate without decent compensation.

On Friday, visiting U.S. environmental lawyer David B. Hunter of the Washington-based Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) urged the World Bank to demand transparency from Indonesia in its sponsored projects.

The World Bank should increase the "level of details" of its programs, he said. "(So) the fund will be used better... to produce greater environmental impact," Hunter said. (aan)