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Liberalization at what cost? Observers raise concerns over sustainability of investments
Eliminating the IMB and Amdal would further harm the environment and people’s safety, said environmental group Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi).
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A worker operates a heavy equipment at a mining site in Tulungagung, East Java. (Antara/Destyan Sujarwoko)
E
nvironmentalists and development planners are raising their voice over the government’s plan to scrap the requirement for building permits (IMB) and environmental impact analyses (Amdal) as part of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s deregulations efforts to up the economy and attract investments.
Environmental group Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) lambasted the government’s plan, arguing that eliminating the IMB and Amdal would further harm the environment and people’s safety.
Walhi campaigner Edo Rahman said the government’s plan was to accommodate foreign investors, including those from China, without considering the environmental impact.
“We believe that the government is destroying our environment by using foreign investment, when it should be protecting our natural resources by improving the overall system and strengthening law enforcement, particularly with environmental analyses,” Edo told The Jakarta Post on Monday.
Companies around the world are increasingly looking to move their production facilities out of China to avoid United States tariffs amid an ongoing trade war between the world’s biggest economies. In order to take advantage of the massive shift, Indonesia has been pushing through economic regulatory reforms to attract investments.
Plans to scrap the Amdal and IMB as requirements for low-risk investments, a stipulation that has been criticized by business players as unnecessary red tape, would be part of the omnibus bill on job creation, which would amend articles in more than 70 existing laws to remove barriers that deter investment.
"Authorities must carry out an in-depth study before announcing the plan because such a plan could cause an upheaval in our development,” Walhi wrote in a statement.
