Walhi told to focus on human resources
Walhi told to focus on human resources
Tb. Arie Rukmantara, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) needs to be
internally strengthened if it wants to cope with increasingly
sophisticated environmental problems, observers say.
Former environment minister Sonny Keraf said on the sidelines
of Walhi's 25th anniversary celebration in Jakarta on Saturday
that during the past three or four years, the quality and the
quantity of Walhi's work had been in decline.
"There were several issues that Walhi was unable to deal with.
One of the examples was when the House of Representatives
discussed imported toxic waste; Walhi kept silent about it," said
Sonny, who is also a member of the House's Commission VII on
environmental issues.
"When I talked to Walhi's executives about their silence, they
said they didn't have enough human resources and data regarding
these problems."
A professor in environmental law at Gadjah Mada University in
Yogyakarta, Koesnadi Hardjasoemantri, said despite Walhi's
achievements in advocating for environmental issues, the
organization had failed to develop its human resources.
"Walhi should improve its members' capacity to deal with
specific issues. They need to employ specialists in certain
fields," Koesnadi said.
He urged Walhi to cooperate with universities to research and
advocate for environmental issues.
To ensure Walhi had a better relationship with the government
and businesses, Koesnadi suggested the group not always take an
adversarial stance.
"Public demand for good corporate governance has been
widespread. Several companies have even established their own
environmental divisions under their corporate social
responsibility departments. This allows Walhi to cooperate with
big businesses," he said.
Responding to the criticism, executive director Chalid
Muhammad said the organization needed to do a lot of homework to
improve its capacity.
He said Walhi was preparing three programs to overcome the
problems.
"First, we aim to focus on specific fields, instead of dealing
with almost every social issue people wish us to," he told The
Jakarta Post.
Walhi would also strive for people's participation in
environmental conservation and raise more funds domestically, he
said.
"We want to build an inclusive organization and make the
country's environmental movement an open, deep-rooted and
sustainable activity," he said, adding that one of the strategies
was to encourage urban people to become its volunteers, a group
called "Sahabat (friends of) Walhi."
Chalid said foreign donors were funding 80 percent of Walhi's
operational costs.