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)