NGOs call for delay of nuclear bill

JAKARTA (JP): Critics of the nuclear bill called for its postponement yesterday to allow the public to contribute ideas on its complex aspects.

Fourteen non-governmental organizations (NGOs) on environment and legal matters proposed in a joint statement that politicians in charge of finalizing the bill learn more about the dangers of nuclear energy.

Big names among the statement's signatories include the Indonesian Forum for Environment, Indonesian Anti-Nuclear Society, Foundation of the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute and International NGO Forum on Indonesian Development.

They listed 23 problems that have reportedly impeded the deliberation of the highly controversial bill, which the government expects to be passed into law by Dec. 12.

Critics have charged that the bill is a government ploy to provide a legal basis for its controversial plan to build nuclear power plants in densely populated Central Java.

They have openly expressed their objection to the plan, saying they doubted Indonesian experts would be able to handle nuclear accidents and that the scheme was the ambition of the powerful few.

Among other things, the organization requested that more time be provided to review the bill's basic aspects and to allow a larger segment of the public to provide input to reflect the people's aspirations, not only the representation of interests by the few people in power.

The government and the House need more time to consider the complexities related to nuclear energy, they said.

The organizations said they were particularly concerned about the possibility that the government, represented by the office of the State Ministry of Research and Technology, would dominate the deliberations of the bill in the final stages.

"We are also worried that the government will insist on completing the bill by Dec. 12 regardless of the problems and dangers of nuclear energy," they said in their statement.

They demanded that the government and the House review Article 9 of the bill, which grants the government and private sector full authority to build a commercial nuclear reactor. (01)