Green projects seek foreign funds
Green projects seek foreign funds
JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian government is touting 30 environmental conservation projects worth US$145 million to international financial institutions and foreign governments for possible funding.
The Environmental Impact Management Agency (Bapedal) held a meeting yesterday with representatives from 11 international donor agencies to solicit funds.
These 30 projects for the 1995-1996 fiscal year have already been approved by the Office of the State Minister of Environment and will be submitted to the National Development Planning Board, Bapedal's Deputy Chairman for Development Program P.L. Coutrier said at the meeting.
Coutrier said the agency needs either grants or soft loans to finance these projects.
The donor agencies attending the meeting include the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the United Nations Industrial Development Office (UNIDO), USAID of the United States, AIDAB of Australia, ODA of Britain, CIDA of Canada, GTZ of Germany, and JICA and OECF of Japan.
The projects include clean-up programs, the development of the concept of clean production processes, forest lands fire impact and control, environmental protection, environmental training programs, and establishing groundwater monitoring and protection capability.
Coutrier said some of the projects are already in the negotiation phase.
JICA will finance an integrated air quality management project for the Jakarta area, CIDA will work on environmental protection, UNDP on public awareness and education, and ODA on the establishment of groundwater monitoring and protection capability.
However he declined to mention the terms of each project being negotiated, or to say which ones are to be financed through grants and through soft loans.
State Minister of Environment Sarwono Kusumaatmadja, who is also chairman of Bapedal, briefed the meeting about changes in the Bapedal management structure.
Under Presidential Decree No. 77/1994 on the Environmental Impact Management Agency, which is a revision to the previous Presidential Decree No. 23/1990, there is a substantial change in the agency's board of management.
Under the new decree, Bapedal will add a third deputy chairman. One deputy will be in charge of Institutional Sector and Capacity Improvement, another for Pollution Control, and a third for Analysis of Environmental Impact and Technical Development.
The new decree also rules the establishment of several new divisions in the agency's central executive board, as well as provincial boards.
Bapedal, which was established in June 1990, has the task of managing environmental impact, including prevention of and control over pollution and environmental damage, as well as rehabilitation of environmental quality. (imn)