No more 'business as usual', says Dorodjatun
No more 'business as usual', says Dorodjatun
The Jakarta Post, Nusa Dua, Bali
Coordinating Minister for the Economy Dorodjatun Kuntjoro-Jakti called on businesses on Tuesday to leave their "business as usual" practices and move toward more responsible methods benefiting society and the environment.
Meanwhile, the business leaders said that the awareness was there, claiming that they had carried out efforts to pursue sustainable development, including protecting the environment and helping the society, but other factors prevented them from doing it all the time.
Dorodjatun said the business sectors were given emphasis because they had an immense role in the sustainable development drive.
Businesses, according to Dorodjatun, had become the most powerful institution after nation states. They are now stronger than labor unions or non-governmental organizations (NGO).
"Even, in some cases, the governments are even powerless in facing multinational corporations," Dorodjatun told business players during a luncheon speech in Nusa Dua, on the sidelines of the current ministerial/preparatory committee meeting for the World Summit on Sustainable Development.
Unfortunately, many business sectors had failed to push ahead with the sustainable development drive in their operations, and worse, they were deceitful to the public by defending their harmful practices through public relations moves, said Dorodjatun.
Due to the immense role of business, their contributions were needed both to prevent their harmful practices to the environment and to support community and government programs to continue development while maintaining the ecological balance for future generations.
"There should be concrete action. For example, after digging the earth, the mining companies must carry out reforestation to prevent ecological damage in the area," said Dorodjatun in an interview with The Jakarta Post, after the luncheon.
The failure to contribute to protecting the environment could lead to disaster in the future.
"The next generations deserve a better life, and the business sectors are also responsible for this," Dorodjatun said.
Meanwhile, business leaders claimed that they had given particular attention to sustainable development through, for example, the establishment of foundations dealing with issues on environmental impact.
Mining company Rio Tinto and consumer product company PT Unilever Indonesia Tbk -- both foreign-owned companies -- were among those which had established such foundations, the Rio Tinto Foundation and Uli Peduli Foundation respectively.
The companies kept parts of their profits flowing to such foundations to finance the sustainable development drive such as through Clean Rivers and Forestation programs.
"We keep the highest standards for corporate behavior, not only to the employees, but also to public," claimed A.A. Pranatadjaja, the director of PT Unilever Indonesia Tbk.