Indonesian President failing the environment: NGOs

Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post 19 Oct 10;

The government has failed to deliver on one of its main re-election campaign promises of prioritizing efforts to protect the environment, activists say.

This view was shared by a coalition of seven environmental groups in an assessment of the first-year performance of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s second-term Cabinet.

“Many of the government’s plans to protect the environment have yet to be implemented [in the field],” Chalid Muhammad, chairman of the Indonesian Green Institute, told reporters on Monday.

The green groups gave the government a red rating — indicating poor performance — for environmental issues.

Chalid said that Yudhoyono’s administration had used environmental issues to gain international popularity, but had failed to deliver on his promises at home.

He said the government’s much-hyped campaign to plant 1 billion trees per year had not been backed up by a policy to impose deforestation limits on companies operating in forest concession areas.

“The government also failed to give enough information to the public about the unpredictable weather changes due to climate change,” he said.

People’s Coalition for Justice in Fisheries secretary-general Riza Damanik said that the government had failed to achieve food security, especially in coastal areas.

The groups called on Yudhoyono to replace ministers in charge of the environment, namely the environment minister, the forestry minister, the agriculture minister, the energy and mineral resources minister and the maritime affairs and fisheries minister.

Rhino Soebagyo, from the Indonesian Center for Environmental Law blasted the Environment Ministry for failing to implement the 2009 Environment Law to stop environmental damage.

“The deadline has passed, and not one single government regulation has been issued to implement the powerful law,” he said.

The law, which required that 12 government regulations be issued by Oct. 3, stipulates that attaining an environmental permit can be used as a prerequisite in obtaining or maintaining a business license.

The environment permit would integrate licenses for disposal of liquid waste into water sources, use of waste water for land applications, temporary storage of hazardous water, collecting hazardous waste, processing hazardous waste and disposal of liquid waste to the sea or other areas.

Rhino said insufficient law enforcement was allowing massive environmental violations to continue.

The Sawit Watch said palm oil plantation expansion claimed 350,000 hectares of land this year.

“We are still studying the relationship between clearing land for oil palm plantations and the increase of flooding in the country,” Jefri Saragih from Sawit Watch said.

The group proposed 12 demands to present to President Yudhoyono, which included to improve leadership at the Environment Ministry and to prioritize the environment in the management of natural resources.

They also urged the government to conduct legal audits of big plantations and fisheries companies by involving the public.