House calls for independent watch body no nuclear power
House calls for independent watch body no nuclear power
JAKARTA (JP): The House of Representatives called yesterday
for an independent body to be established to supervise the use of
nuclear power.
Muhammad Buang of the United Development Party (PPP) faction
made the proposal in a meeting of the House Commission IX on
science and technology and State Minister of Research and
Technology B.J. Habibie yesterday.
The government should constitute the body to control nuclear
power application, but it should work independently, Buang said.
The proposed body should answer directly to the President, he
said.
Habibie welcomed the suggestion, saying the body could
resemble the respected National Commission on Human Rights.
The rights body was formed on January 1994, in the face of
doubts about its ability to maintain independence when
investigating rights violations by powerful bodies such the
military.
The commission has received much praise recently for its
independence and courage.
Habibie acknowledged that the body must be independent from
the agency that manages nuclear power.
"The executive body and the control body should not be manned
by the same person," he said.
Nuclear watch bodies in the United States, Germany, France and
Japan are independent and work directly under the heads of state,
he said.
Yesterday's meeting was called to deliberate the nuclear power
bill.
The bill should consider future applications of nuclear
technology, including research on health and agriculture, and
power generation, said Habibie.
The Indonesian Forum for Environment (Walhi), a non-
governmental organization opposed to the government's plan to
build nuclear power plant, said the bill was mere ploy for the
government to finally legitimize the nuclear plant.
The organization said many House members have limited
knowledge about nuclear power and they are, therefore,
unqualified to deliberate the bill in such a short time.
"The bill should be totally revised," the organization said.
The organization also said that the authority to decide
whether or not Indonesia needs a nuclear power plant should not
be the government's alone. "The danger of possessing a nuclear
power plant and of nuclear waste is so great," the organization
cited.
Walhi also criticized the government-sponsored bill because it
does not have any provisions about the planned power plant. (05)