Public told to help protect environment

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government, private businesses and representatives of the people signed on Thursday a memorandum to express their joint commitment to establishing the environmental governance that may give wider access for the public to take part in preserving the environment.

Initiated by the Access Initiative (AI), the joint commitment was made with regards to the people who have suffered the most from environment deterioration where industries and businesses failed to invite public participation in assessing their activities' impacts to the environment.

Frances Seymour, director for institutions and governance program at the World Resources Institute, revealed to a media briefing after the signing ceremony here on Thursday that AI found out that most of the emerging economy did not have a standard procedure or policies that enable the people to monitor the industries and the environment.

"How could the people are expected to safeguard their backyard if the government fail to disseminate to the public the information on the industry and how it may affect the people and the environment?," she remarked.

The director general for forest protection at the Ministry of Forestry, Wiyono, and Central Java's Kebumen Regent Rustriningsih represented the government in the declaration, while businesswoman Dewi Motik represented the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce (Ikadin). Representing the people were Tunggul Sirait, a member of the House of Representatives' caucus for environment and activist Ahmad Safrudin from the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi).

The signing is only the first step in efforts to win a global commitment from the 4th Global Ministerial-Level Preparatory Committee Meeting for World Summit on Sustainable Development held in Bali this week that will feature government officials, activists, and observers from 189 countries.

The World Summit will be held in Johannesburg next September.

AI is an international coalition of observers and environmental experts and activists with their prime concerns on empowering the civil society to ensure responsive and acceptable environmental policies by pushing the creation of three key access to information, participation and justice.