Waste decree has many loopholes: Lawyer

Waste decree has many loopholes: Lawyer

By Prasetya Subekti

JAKARTA (JP): A leading environmental lawyer has welcomed the
government's initiative to compel manufacturers to treat their
toxic and hazardous industrial waste but he warns that the new
ruling does not go far enough to stop industrial pollution.

Mas Achmad Santosa criticized Presidential Decree No. 19,
issued last month, because no specific provisions are made for
punishing offenders.

"If all waste generators meet the stipulations of the decree,
we don't have a problem," Mas Achmad, executive director of the
Indonesian Center for Environmental Law, said.

"The problem arises when they refuse to comply, because there
are no sanctions," he told The Jakarta Post.

"It doesn't specify enforcement and liabilities for the
waste generators, transporters and plant treatment if there is
any loss or accident."

The decree does not deal with the future of the land fills to
be used to dump the treated waste, he said, underlining that
these sites will remain serious hazards in the long run.

The presidential decree was issued last month on the eve of
the inauguration of Indonesia's first ever waste treatment center
in Cileungsi, Bogor, West Java.

The decree requires manufacturers that produce toxic and
hazardous waste to either install their own treatment facility or
have their waste neutralized at a waste treatment center.

Mas Achmad said he had long ago proposed that the regulations
on treating industrial waste be made into law, which would be
stronger than a presidential decree and promise better chances
for enforcement.

The decree simply refers to the 1982 Law on Environmental
Protection, which stipulate a maximum of 10 years imprisonment
for offenders.

Mas Achmad however doubts that this will be sufficient.
"Theoretically, the decree does not cover criminal liability."

Another weakness in the presidential decree is that while it
bans the import of hazardous waste, it does not spell out how
this ban should be enforced, he said.

Mas Achmad also posed a question to the authorities: Instead
of trying to control waste, why not encourage manufacturers to
adopt production technology that produces less waste or is even
waste free? "This would go a long way in covering the loopholes
in the decree" he said.

He suggested that the government should not delay before
reviewing the regulation.

Mas Achmad spoke favorably of the role and authority given to
the government's Environmental Impact Management Agency (Bapedal)
to supervise and monitor the implementation of the decree.

Skeptical

Other environmental activists however are still skeptical
about the management of the new waste treatment center, the first
in Indonesia and said to be the biggest, which was inaugurated by
President Soeharto.

The Rp 200 billion ($95 million) plant, which can process up
to 88,000 tons of waste a year, is operated by PT Prasadha
Pamunah Limbah Industri (PPLI), a joint venture involving
Waste Management International plc of Britain, PT Bimantara Citra
(a company controlled by Bambang Trihatmodjo, the President's
son) and Bapedal.

Arimbi from the Indonesian Environmental Forum (WALHI) said
that without proper management and supervision, the PPLI plant
could be a time bomb, waiting for one human error to happen.

"The presence of the plant is positive because it gives
assurances that Indonesia treats the hazardous waste according to
the Basel Convention," Arimbi said. "But we're still afraid of a
possible blast which is bound to harm the environment," she said.

"We hope that the operators work professionally according to
standards on safety precautions."

This suspicion was placated by PPLI executives who pointed to
the fact that Waste Management International has long experience
in the field and has operated plants in 19 countries, including
the United States.

"We have an outstanding historical record," Patrick Heinegen,
director of PT Prasadha Pamunah Limbah Industri (PPLI), said.

He also said that the company has strict policies when it
comes to safety. "We set up 14 environmental principles that must
be adhered to by our operators,"

Waste Management International also appoints independent
consultants to evaluate the performance of plant operators
annually and file their reports with the United Nations
environmental protection program.

Arimbi also questioned the involvement of Bapedal, which holds
five percent equity in the plant, fearing that there might be a
conflict of interest between its role as a shareholder and
supervisor of the enforcement of the decree.

Waste Management International holds 70 percent of the shares
and Bimantara Citra has the other 25 percent.

Eman Achmad from the Indonesian Center for Environmental Law
also queried the share distribution.

With only five percent equity, Bapedal has no say in the
policy making decisions which will be made by the bigger
shareholders, Eman said. "So what was the motive for giving the
agency a five percent share?"

Eman said that given the safety risks posed by the plant, PPLI
should be more transparent in its business affairs so that it is
continually subjected to public scrutiny.

Nabiel Makarim, Bapedal's deputy for pollution control, said
the five percent equity may be too small to affect decision
making but is sufficiently big for the purpose of internal
control.

"Let the other shareholders handle the financial matters. They
must be more efficient," he said. He added that he sees no
possible conflict of interest.