System for ecological disputes needed

System for ecological disputes needed

JAKARTA (JP): Non-governmental organization (NGO) activists
and government officials agreed yesterday that Indonesia must
establish a system to settle environmental disputes.

They met at a workshop to formulate directives for a system
envisioned to handle public complaints and solve environmental
disputes.

"The establishment of an interrelated control system should
not be protracted considering the escalating quantity and quality
of environmental problems," Mas Achmad Santosa, executive
director of the Indonesian Center for Environmental Law (ICEL),
said.

Between January and December last year, ICEL received 133
public complaints, while the Environmental Management Agency
(Bappedal) received 101 complaints. Less than 10 percent of those
reports were properly handled, Achmad said.

According to Achmad, the system would benefit at least three
parties: the public, the government and investors.

"People will know where to lodge their complaints, the
government will have information on industries' compliance status
and businesses will be assured of their status amid rising
environmental awareness," he said.

An environmental law issued in 1982, stipulates that
environmental disputes must be settled in court. Critics say that
this law is rendered ineffective because the victims, generally
common people, are often reluctant to raise their complaints.

"They, therefore, need to be well informed of their rights and
understand the substance of environmental problems," said
Koesnadi Hardjasoemantri, an environmental law lecturer at the
Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta.

M. Butarbutar of the home affairs ministry cited the vice
presidential office, State Ministry of Environment, PO Box 5000,
the National Commission on Human Rights and Bappedal as places
where people could air their grievances.

It is hoped that Bappedal's regional offices can implement the
new environmental dispute settlement system.

Chief of the Semarang Bappedal office Djamron Mansur said he
was pessimistic that Bappedal could tackle such a broad task
considering its shortages of staff and technology.

Titled "Developing a System to Manage Public Complaints and
Settling Environmental Disputes", the workshop was held by the
Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry for Environmental Affairs,
Bappedal and ICEL. (14)