Susilo told to revoke mining rule

M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

Environmental activists have called on the next government under president-elect Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to annul legislation enacted by the outgoing administration that were deemed harmful to the environment.

Senior expert of the Indonesian Center for Environmental Law (ICEL) Mas Ahmad Santosa said Susilo's administration must revoke a government regulation in lieu of law (Perpu) that allowed several mining firms to renew operations in protected forests.

ICEL also demanded revocation of Law No. 7/2004 on water resource, as it would deny the people free access to water.

"The two laws contradict the basic principles of sustainable development, to which the government became committed following the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg," Mas Ahmad told a press briefing on Wednesday.

The summit aimed to develop a firm action plan for poverty alleviation, providing health care, clean water and a sustainable energy supply to those without them, and environmental protection.

He said even without a regulation permitting open-pit mining in protected areas, the country's forests were already in dire straits.

"Annual deforestation in Indonesia is estimated at between 1.6 million and 2.4 million hectares, and we have already lost 43 million of 120.3 million hectares of our forests," Mas Ahmad said.

The country contributes over 25 percent of the world's annual deforestation of 15 million hectares, he said.

The Perpu in question, which was issued earlier this year, allows 13 mining firms to resume operations in protected forests.

The firms were part of a large group of mining companies forced to suspend operations following the enactment of a new forestry law in 1999 that banned open-pit mining in protected areas.

Fellow environmental activist Wiwik Awiati said the Water Resource Law would only aggravate poverty in the nation.

"One of the keys to mitigating poverty is free access to water. However, the law bars the poor from access to water by treating the natural resource as a commodity," she said.

The law promotes the commercialization of water, provided either the central or regional governments granted approval.

The bill was proposed amid pressure from the World Bank and its US$300 million Water Sector Adjustment Loan in 1999.

ICEL also recommended that the environmental post at the national level be expanded.

"Apart from a responsibility to draw up environmental protection policies, it should also be given a regulatory role," Mas Ahmad said, adding that the existing position of state minister had only a coordinating role in environmental matters.