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.