Indonesia
loses $4 billion from its rain forests to illegal logging.
Jakarta Globe, Vanesha Manuturi, Jun 10, 2015
 |
| Farming is seen in the protected areas of the Kerinci National Park (TNKS), in Kerinci, Jambi, in May. (Antara Photo/Wahdi Septiawan) |
Jakarta.
The World Bank has pressed Indonesia to improve resource management and
governance as the country works towards more sustainable and
environmentally-friendly economic growth over the next five years.
“Indonesia
has enjoyed tremendous growth … but not all are benefiting from these
achievements and they come with a high price of environmental degradation,”
said Sri Mulyani Indrawati, managing director and chief operating officer at
the World Bank, on the first day of the Indonesia Green Infrastructure Summit
2015 in Jakarta on Tuesday.
She pointed
to Indonesia’s forestry industry as an example of the country’s murky governance
track record.
“Every
year, Indonesia loses some $4 billion through illegal logging. Meanwhile,
revenue from forestry licensing amounts to only $300 million per year,” she
said. “This is a problem of governance, manifested in poor performance that
impacts the implementation of existing regulations or design of better laws.”
Sri Mulyani
— who was a former finance minister in the Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s
administration before resigning in 2010 — also noted “an information gap” among
government agencies in Indonesia, which has led to a lack of transparency and
efficiency in resource management.
“The energy
sector, for example, needs more and better data on simple energy use and
emissions,” she said.
Still, the
World Bank managing director praised the government’s moratorium on new fishing
permits for large operations as an “encouraging development.”
“A
well-managed ‘blue’ economy can ensure food security, promote sustainable
tourism and build resilience. But degradation through overfishing and dumped
waste exacerbates poverty and undermines food security globally,” she said.
Improving
governance of the fisheries sector coupled with large-scale investment in
maritime transport and trade infrastructure could double fish production in the
next five years, according to Sri.
During the
same summit, Vice President Jusuf Kalla admitted the government’s stance to
maintaining a sustainable economic growth has been lackluster.
“We’ve
always thought about environmental issues after we’re faced with problems,”
Kalla said.
“We’ve
learnt and we are now learning with economic principles that are sustainable so
that we can pass down this country for the next generation.”
Under
President Joko Widodo, the government wants to boost growth to 7 percent over
the next five years, bolstered by greater investment — both by the government
and the private sector — in infrastructure development.
Joko’s
infrastructure vision for the country includes the development of new power
plants with a total capacity of 35,000 megawatts and nine million hectares of
agriculture land across the country.
In a bid to
encourage more environmentally-friendly investments, Indonesia currently offers
tax allowances to nine business areas relating to environmental preservation,
including geothermal power, refining and natural gas processing industry,
organic basic chemical industry, and clean water reservoir and purification
industry.
In April,
Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya said that the ministry plans to
offer more incentives — such as soft-loan facilities, business permit
extensions and free import duties — to local and foreign investors with technology
which reduces pollution and conserves energy.
GlobeAsia
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