NGOs call for moratorium on natural resource exploitation
Five non-governmental organizations have called on the government to temporarily stop issuing licenses for the exploitation of natural resources due to the destruction it has so far caused
ANTARA News | February 19, 2010
The NGOs demanding the moratorium on license issuance are the Indonesia Environment Forum (WALHI), the Mining Advocacy Network (JATAM), the Women`s Solidarity, the People`s Coalition for Fishery Justice (KIARA) and the Indonesian Center for Environmental Law (ICEL).
"The government must declare a moratorium on natural resource licences be they for mining or forest conversion. The licenses already issued meanwhile must be reviewed," Walhi`s executive director Berry Nahdian Furqon said at a press conference at the JATAM office here on Thursday.
The NGOs had demanded moratoruim on licences for mining, natural forest conversion into industrial forests and construction development in catchment areas or green belts.
Berry said natural resource exploitation would bring a bad impact on the community such as increasing floods and areas affected by them.
According to Walhi floods occured in 34 districts and cities in the country in January to February this year leaving 55 people dead.
In 2009 a total of 179 floods were recorded in the country, claiming 225 lives.
Jatam`s national coordinator Siti Maemunah meanwhile said in Kalimantan that produces more than 200 million tons of coal a year had continued to suffer environmental quality degradation.
She said coal mining licenses in the region reach more than 2,000, causing poverty, environmental disasters, conflicts, health problems, accute corruption that have strengthened gender inequality.
Every year she said more than 200,000 food producing lands change into coal mining areas to worsen food reliance of the local people.
Licenses for oilpalm plantations and logging meanwhile reached 8.4 million hectares of the planned 26 million hectares according to Sawit Watch, she said.
She said the activities had caused minimaly 576 conflicts one of them from the destruction of traditional forests by PT Ledo Lestari in Semunying Jaya in the subdistrict of Jagoi, Babang, Bengkayand district in West Kalimantan.
The House Commission III in a meeting with the ministries of the environment, forestry, and energy and mineral resources on Tuesday had called on the ministry of energy and mineral resoruces and the ministry of forestry to conduct synchronization with regard to the draft government regulation on protection and management of the environment to maintain sustainability of natural resources in the country.
The synchronization includes among others exploitation and/or reservation of natural resources including determination of mining areas and authorities with regard to natural resource inventories and environment licenses as well as environmental risk analysis.(*)
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