Indonesia - Walk the talk

When a country's president openly criticizes governors or regents under his supervision, it's like opening his own wound for all to see. After all, he is their leader; the country's number-one man. Their mistakes are his mistakes. Their failures are his failures.

So when President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono lashed out at them during his visit to Jambi on Wednesday, accusing them of being careless and ignorant in granting "licenses for all" - a "common disease" ahead of regional elections - he should take part of the blame on himself.

In his speech, Yudhoyono accused them of irresponsibly competing for better growth, while sacrificing the environment in the process; calling them to stop such practices and consult with the Forestry Ministry to prevent the issuance of harmful permits. While his criticism deserves praise, such concern does not in itself push any button that will produce improvements. The one thing that is really needed is action. And we need to see the results.

After all, it only takes a moment to reflect on this country's long list of environmental problems that affect people's lives on daily basis. Every year, we experience forest fires, haze, deforestation, pollution, water crises, floods … and the list could go on.

Our forests are one of the constant victims. Forest destruction, with deforestation reportedly now reaching over 1 million hectares a year, continues in a seemingly legal way, due to conflicting policies, weak oversight and poor law enforcement.

The roots of the problem are nothing new. The Forestry Ministry's working unit and the Judicial Mafia Taskforce reportedly found 62 percent of forestry violations were caused due policy blunders, while the remainder were as a result of corporate crime.

Both central and local governments are hiding behind their own rules. The central government speaks in the name of laws and regulations, many of which are still far from perfect; while local administrations, proud of their regional autonomy protection, believe in their own regional decrees. They all think they are doing the right thing, and communication is not part of the picture.

The central government is not free from guilt either. On the one hand, it is committed to saving forests, but on the other, it issues vague regulations, such as one that allows companies to establish subterranean mining operations underneath some of the country's protected forests. Such an example not only raises doubts about the government's seriousness in protecting the environment, but on a practical level it also leaves the way open to the danger of abuse.

Poor oversight and law enforcement do not seem to be a priority either, with reports pointing to cases of companies exploiting more forest areas than are stipulated in their permits that are still occurring, despite the existence of sophisticated monitoring technology.

The fact that Indonesia is the world's third-largest forested country, with 120 million hectares of rainforest - 40 million of which are protected forest and conservation areas that cannot be exploited for commercial purposes - should not be taken for granted. With a business-as-usual attitude, our forests will disappear in a snap.

The world is watching, especially after the government agreed to implement a two-year forest moratorium, which means no issuing of new permits for exploiting natural forests and peat land for two years. After seven years in power, the President should show his leadership in managing his people to fix the problems and produce results.

It's time to get organized. Better late than never.

The Jakarta Post

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