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)