House wraps up environment bill

JAKARTA (JP): The House of Representatives has finished deliberating the government-sponsored environment bill and is expected to pass it into law early next month.

The government and legislators from the three parties said yesterday they had agreed on several controversial stipulations in the bill after three months of debate.

Burning issues in the bill had included stipulations on the import of toxic waste and public participation in making decisions which affect the environment.

Didin S. Sastrapradja of the dominant Golkar faction and Muhammad Buang of the Moslem-based United Development Party (PPP) said the House and the government had agreed to totally ban toxic waste imports and guarantee people's right to participate in environmental management.

"We (legislators) have kept our promise to make the bill a much more progressive law than the existing legislation," Didin told The Jakarta Post.

The environment bill, submitted to the House by the government last April, seeks to amend the No.4/1982 Environment Law which many have criticized as being outdated.

Didin said the environment bill would have 12 chapters and 54 articles, nine articles more than in the bill's initial draft.

The import of toxic waste would be totally banned under the new law, Didin said. But added: "The government will further regulate the type of toxic waste."

The 1982 environment law does not regulate the import of toxic waste.

Such imports, as a raw material for some industries, are now regulated under Government Regulation No. 12/1995.

Muhammad Buang said he was relieved that toxic waste imports would be eventually banned.

"Industries using imported toxic waste as a raw material will have a five-year grace period before they must comply with the law," Buang told the Post.

Buang and Didin said that people's participation in environmental management would be guaranteed.

"The bill explicitly guarantees people's right to participate in the management of the environment, while the government is also given the right to regulate it," Didin said.

Many non-governmental organizations here have voiced concern over people's right to have a say in environmental management. They believe the new environment law will deny this right.

Environmentalists said yesterday that they would need time to study the future law before they could comment on it.

The bill also guarantees non-governmental environmental organizations the right to participate in ecological management. (aan)