Public seeks wider access to environmental information

JAKARTA (JP): Legal and environmental experts called on the government yesterday to grant the public wider access to information on environmental management.

"The people's right to know is a basic element to involve them in the development process," Indro Sugianto, director of the Surabaya Legal Aid Institute, told a seminar.

According to Indro, the main obstacle to public participation in development could be traced back to the existing development paradigm that permits the state to exploit all human and natural resources for the sake of capital investment by marginalizing the public on the environmental issues.

"It naturally follows that environmental laws and regulations are often unclear. For example, respect of the right to participate is not followed by the right to access clear information," he added.

The one-day seminar, sponsored by the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute, was titled Reinforcing the Public's Rights to Information on Environmental Management.

Dadang Trisasongko, secretary of the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation, told The Jakarta Post that the seminar intended to formulate a working agenda between the press, various non- governmental organizations (NGOs) and the government to increase public participation in development.

According to Dadang, the items on the agenda included greater public participation in formulating environmental public policies and strengthening the public's bargaining power in access to information.

"This seminar, however, is just a first step toward greater coordination between the press, NGOs and the government to provide more accurate and comprehensive information to the public," Dadang said.

Many experts have expressed concern over the mass media's inaccurate and often misleading environmental coverage.

Daniel Dhakidae, a senior staff of the Kompas daily research and development department, said that the complexities of environmental issues are often exacerbated by the environmental paradox.

"In their capacity as public policies, environmental issues are often elitist due to technicalities involved in their formulation. But the impact and degradation are obviously not at all inclusive to the elites," he said.

Daniel also urged the public to be vigilant in digesting information provided by the media, because not all magazines or newspapers have sufficient skills in environmental issues.

Nabiel Makarim, deputy chairman of the Pollution Control of the Environmental Impact Management Agency agreed that there are obstacles preventing the public from accessing information.

In his paper, Nabiel referred to the unclear rights and obligations of those who have access to information, the public's capacity to digest the information and its distrust of information provided as being some of the obstacles.

Unable to attend the seminar himself, Nabiel hoped that it would find some solutions to the problems aforementioned. (14)