Bruce Gale, Straits Times 5 Mar 10;
IS INDONESIA paying enough attention to environmental issues? In September last year, when Parliament passed a new law strengthening the authority of the environment ministry it seemed as if the country was finally ready for concrete action.
Since the Bali Climate Change Conference in December 2007, observers had certainly been expecting something. At that conference, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono emerged as a key leader in the fight for an international agreement on cutting greenhouse gas emissions. Changes in domestic policies, it seemed, would almost certainly follow.
But an examination of the Yudhoyono government's approach to the 2009 legislation suggests that whatever else the government had in mind at the Bali Conference, developing a systematic approach to the way the country deals with its environmental problems has not been a high priority.
The new legislation was originally drawn up by Environment Minister Rahmat Witoelar as a revision of law 23 of 1997. Among other things, the legislation was designed to give the environment ministry enforcement powers rather than depending on the police and other law enforcement institutions.
But the draft was never sent to Parliament. No reason was given, but the timing suggests that it could have been related to the controversy over the disastrous volcanic mud flow in East Java in 2006.
The catastrophe certainly put the government in a difficult position. Critics blamed drilling activities by Lapindo Brantas. This company was controlled by the family firm of Mr Aburizal Bakrie, then the Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare and one of the President's most important financial backers. Lapindo Brantas denied any responsibility, claiming that the mudflow was caused by an earthquake.
With millions of dollars in compensation being demanded by various aggrieved parties, strengthening the country's environmental legislation at that time would hardly have seemed like a good idea to those in power.
But the pressure for a revision of the law remained strong, and it was not long before Parliament's Commission 7 on the Environment and Mining began reviewing the legislation on its own initiative, with the help of local environment groups.
Approved by Parliament in September last year, the new legislation enables national park rangers to investigate and arrest those violating environment laws. In the past, rangers could only report perpetrators to the police.
The law also requires companies - most notably mining companies - whose operations have an impact on the environment to obtain an environmental licence and undergo an environmental assessment process before starting operations. And if the terms of these environmental licences are breached, the ministry is empowered to revoke them and issue fines. Yet another clause stipulates sanctions for local and central government officials who issue mining permits without following the proper procedures.
Non-government environmental organisations The Straits Times spoke to in Jakarta last month said they regarded the new law as a major improvement on previous legislation. However, they did point out some weaknesses.
Clause 3 of Article 43, which outlines fines to be imposed on polluters, is a particular concern. Mr Berry Nahdian Furqon of Walhi (Indonesian Friends of the Earth) said he was worried that the way the provision was worded could undermine the possibility of criminal charges provided for in other parts of the legislation. It could also shift the responsibility for clean-up operations from the polluter to the government.
Mr Chalid Muhammad of the Green Institute lamented the lack of a moratorium on the hundreds of mining permits already issued by local kebupaten (regencies) throughout the country.
But the real concern about the new environmental legislation is the low priority it appears to have with government officials. Outlining his key objectives for the first 100 days of President Yudhoyono's second term of office, Environment Minister Gusti Muhammad Hatta said he intended to concentrate on two things - sending a delegation to the Copenhagen climate change talks (last December), and developing a system to prevent forest fires.
Many believe Mr Gusti should have spent more time drawing up the new environment law's implementing regulations instead. In Indonesia, such regulations are often delayed for years. And even after the regulations are issued, there is no guarantee that they will do the job. In an e-mailed response to Straits Times enquiries, Mr Sony Keraf, who chaired the parliamentary commission that drafted the law, warned that the 'content and spirit' of such regulations often have 'nothing to do with the law'.
Citing the inability or unwillingness of the authorities to prosecute cases of illegal logging in 2007 and 2008 uncovered by police in Riau, Mr Chalid says he believes that, without strong support from the President, Mr Gusti will be very unlikely to use his new powers to take on major polluters that have a close relationship with those in power.
It is hard to disagree.
