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)