Indonesia set to train judges on environment issues
Date: 16-Jul-02
Country: INDONESIA
Environmentalists have criticised Jakarta for failing to protect natural resources but companies have complained that environmental regulations, in particular a forestry law ratified in 1999, were too complicated and were discouraging investment.
"Indonesian law is very weak, while the problems of the environment are very complex. We will train 12 judges and 12 prosecutors on environment issues," Nabiel Makarim told reporters after meeting President Megawati Sukarnoputri.
"The president has agreed and I will talk with other institutions to form an agenda for the training," he added. He didn't say when the training would start.
Indonesia's rain forests have been ravaged for years by over-logging, often with government approval. And in the late 1990s forest fires repeatedly hit the islands of Sumatra and Borneo, where much of the remaining forest is.
Haze, caused by such forest fires, has been a regional concern since the mid-1990s and Indonesia has drawn most of the criticism for the choking smoke.
It has been attributed to causes ranging from fires started in the process of logging and clearing of land for plantations to slash-and-burn farming.
Indonesia ratified a forestry law in 1999 and its main provision is a ban on open-pit mining as a means to prevent trees being cleared, however analysts say it's so broad that should it be enforced it could apply to virtually all mining operations in the country.
The cash-strapped archipelago is desperate to attract funds after four years of crisis but has had troubled relations with many companies that complain of legal uncertainty.