Integrated licensure needed to combat wildfires, says expert
Integrated licensure needed to combat wildfires, says expert
P.C. Naommy, Jakarta
Poor governmental supervision has encouraged forest
concessionaires and plantation companies to employ burning to
clear their land, which is one of the main causes of forest fires
in the country, an activist says.
The executive director of the Indonesian Center for
Environmental Law, Indro Sugianto, said over the weekend that the
government was so eager to issue business permits that it failed
to supervise how companies operated in the field.
"The reality in the field shows that many of these
institutions just issue licenses without supervising how the
companies carry out their business," said Indro.
Plantation companies are likely to choose the slash-and-burn
method of clearing land because it is the cheapest alternative
for opening up thousands of hectares of land for future
cultivation, he said.
The slash-and-burn method of land clearance is believed to be
one of the main causes of the annual forest fires in Riau and
other parts of Sumatra and Kalimantan that send thick clouds of
smoke over neighboring Singapore and Malaysia.
The Office of the State Minister for the Environment said last
week it was investigating a total of 22 fires allegedly caused by
plantation companies in Riau and Kalimantan. At least 10 of the
companies being investigated by Riau authorities are owned by
Malaysians.
A thick haze from the fires has spread across Sumatra and
Kalimantan, and is also affecting Malaysia and Singapore, causing
flight delays and health worries in the two countries.
Indro said the annual fires reflected a lack of commitment to
law enforcement by the government.
The worst forest fires in the history of modern Indonesia
occurred in 1997 and 1998, with at least 11.7 million hectares of
forested areas affected, 8.2 million hectares more than in the
fires of 1982 and 1983.
Indro called for an integrated licensing system to help fight
this problem, under which both plantation companies and forest
concessionaires would have to go to one place to obtain business
licenses.
He said that under the current system, forest concessionaires
obtained their licenses from the Ministry of Forestry, while
plantation companies went to the Ministry of Agriculture for
licenses. If concessionaires or plantation companies plan to
export their products, they must also obtain a license from the
Ministry of Industry and Trade.
Indro said that with an integrated licensing system, a company
would not be allowed to obtain a license from one ministry
without first receiving approval from the other related
ministries.
"This method of licensing would make the task of monitoring
companies easier and would also act as a tool for imposing strong
measures against companies breaking the law," he said.
Indro said such a licensing system would be included in the
revision of Law No. 23/1997 on environmental management.
A staff member in the legal division at the Office of the
State Minister for the Environment, Nixon Silalahi, confirmed
plans to include an integrated licensing system in the revised
environmental management law. He said a draft of the revised law
was currently being looked at by a team from the state minister's
office, non-governmental organizations and academics.