Major polluters' names to be announced: Sarwono

Major polluters' names to be announced: Sarwono

SOLO, Central Java (JP): Minister of Environment Sarwono Kusumaatmadja promised on Saturday to announce next month the names of 200 major industries which pollute the environment.

Speaking at a seminar on environment at Sebelas Maret University in Surakarta, Sarwono said he hoped the move would encourage the public to be more selective in choosing their products and opt for brands produced by environmentally-friendly industries.

"We will announce the names of about 200 industries. This move has been welcomed by major industries which care for the environment," he said,

Sarwono pointed out that many people presently consider thee required environmental impact analysis (Amdal) a mere administrative requirement and refuse to see its importance to ecology.

Consequently, he said, there are many industries which continue to pollute and degrade the environment that have already completed the analysis.

An environmental impact analysis is a mandatory assessment report which ensures that any development will not result in unwanted effects to the surrounding environment.

Sarwono, who spoke on the problems of sustainable development during the seminar, said that although economic liberalization and the emergence of a free market would be profitable, it could cause serious problems.

Such problems, he continued, included the accumulation of capital in the hands of a small number of people who would then use their wealth to exhaust Indonesia's natural resources. (har/pwn)