Japanese tech for cleaner RI slaughterhouses

Adianto P. Simamora , The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Fri, 01/29/2010 10:25 AM

The government of Japan has offered a co-benefit cooperation to develop eco-friendly slaughterhouses and landfills to cope with climate change and pollution in Indonesia.

Japan would provide technology to capture emissions from slaughterhouses and landfills in Indonesia and alter them as energy sources to generate electricity for citizens.

“But the total emission cuts from projects belong to Indonesia,” Tuty Hendrawaty, deputy assistance on pollution control from the agro industry sector at the State Environment Ministry told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

She said that pilot projects would be in slaughterhouses in Palembang, South Sumatra and the landfill in Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan.

“Experts from Japan and Indonesia have conducted feasibility studies on the planned projects,” she said.

The governments of Indonesia and Japan organized a two-day workshop on co-benefit cooperation in Jakarta on Thursday, attended by officials from several provinces.

Slaughterhouses and landfills are among the major sources of water pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, especially in developing countries due to poor management.

Untreated wastewater often flows into rivers, which are the main sources of clean water for the public.

Slaughterhouses and landfills also carry diseases that can be transferred to humans, while wastewater generates methane gas.

Methane is reported as far more dangerous to the atmosphere than carbon dioxide.

The Japanese government launched the “Cool Earth 50” initiative in 2007 to establish a global warming management framework with the long-term target of halving greenhouse gas emissions until 2050.

Japan and Indonesia signed a joint statement on environmental protection through the co-benefit approach in 2007, including the implementation of the 3R (reduce, reuse and recycle).

Since then, Indonesia produced massive campaigns on the 3R concept to reduce the size of landfills.

Data from the State Environment Ministry shows more than 60 percent out of the 170 surveyed cities in 2008 relied on poorly managed landfills.

It said that many cities only disposed around 65 percent of daily waste at the final disposal site with the remaining illegally dumped in rivers or at parks and were illegally burned.

The report said Indonesia produced a large amount of methane gas from garbage.

Producing around 45 million cubic meters of garbage annually, mostly from metropolitan cities, Indonesia may be producing around 520,000 tons of methane, the report said.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has promised to cut 26 percent of emissions by 2020, of which about 6 percent of emission reduction would be from the waste sector.

After shock

The Jakarta Post, Antara | Sat, 01/30/2010 3:27 PM

Two elementary students passes a building damaged after a 5-magnitude quake shook three districts in Central Aceh and Bener Meriah regency in Aceh on Saturday. At least 300 houses and education facilities were reportedly damaged in the late Friday quake. Antara/Rahmad

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Out of Aceh's experience, hope for rebuilding Haiti

The Washington Post, by Joachim von Amsberg, Friday, January 29, 2010

The official death toll of the recent earthquake in Haiti is more than 110,000. That tens of thousands more may have been killed puts this tragedy on par with that wrought by the tsunami that struck South Asia in December 2004, killing about 200,000 people and displacing more than half a million just in Indonesia's Aceh province. There are other parallels between these disasters. Haiti is a poor country long plagued by governance issues. Even though Indonesia is a well-functioning state, Aceh at that time had been ravaged by decades of conflict between the Indonesian government and Acehnese groups fighting for independence. Whatever government had existed in Aceh was severely diminished by the tsunami.

Yet Aceh today is a vibrant place where families live in houses and communities, children attend school and farmers tend to their fields. Its reconstruction is widely recognized as a success, and that work could offer a silver lining for Haiti.

In Aceh, about 140,000 houses have been rebuilt, 2,500 miles of roads have been constructed, and 200,000 small and medium-size businesses have been supported. Indonesia concluded an agreement seven months after the tsunami with the independence fighters that gave important autonomies to Aceh in return for a peace that has lasted. That pact laid the foundation for the investment and economic development that have taken place.

While the memories of the tragedy linger, what can be rebuilt has been rebuilt. In numerous trips to Aceh over the past 2 1/2 years, I have seen enough redevelopment and spoken to enough local people to know that Aceh has been built back better than it was before the tsunami. Today, Aceh has functioning local and provincial governments that work together with the national government to provide services for its people. There is a functioning state in Aceh. By no means is it flawless, but it holds promise for more social and economic progress and development.

Aceh's experience provides hope that at least the physical and economic damage from natural disasters can be overcome. Hope that out of the desperation of disaster can come the desire for reconciliation after conflict and for establishing an effective state or nation that can address the challenge of rebuilding. No two disasters are the same, but a few keys to success from the Aceh tsunami reconstruction experience should be kept in mind as international support is channeled to Haiti:

• First, local and national leadership count. While Aceh's local government was decimated, Indonesia's national government led the recovery and reconstruction efforts. The president appointed a personally trusted, experienced leader to manage the reconstruction and created an agency with overarching powers to coordinate billions of dollars of investments by 350 organizations in 12,500 projects. International partners may have to take the lead in Haiti during a transition period, but there is no substitute for national leadership in the long run.
  
  
• Second, empowering people is key. In Aceh, strong top-down leadership was complemented by the empowerment of the people and communities. Victims became development workers. Aid recipients and former combatants became community facilitators. Displaced families became workers who rebuilt their houses. By channeling a large share of reconstruction funds directly to communities, the people of Aceh's problems were transformed as they became part of the solution. Their hard work meant that houses were built faster, at a lower cost, and better met the needs of the people.
  
  
• Third, coordinating global aid is critical. International development partners supported reconstruction through coordinated approaches that were aligned behind government leadership and Aceh's priorities. Fifteen donor countries and donor organizations pooled $700 million in a multi-donor fund administered by the World Bank. Instead of 15 separate housing and road projects with different procedures and criteria, which would have overstretched the limited capacity of local institutions, one well-coordinated program was implemented by communities, government and U.N. agencies, and respected nongovernmental organizations.
  
  

There are, of course, many differences between Haiti today and Aceh five years ago. But as we found in Aceh, recovery is possible. The first priority, as it was after the tsunami, is the vast humanitarian task that is underway. But if the international community comes together, aligns its efforts and coordinates support that prioritizes the interests of the people affected by disaster and puts them in the driver's seat, Haiti's future can look much brighter than its past ever did.

Joachim von Amsberg, the World Bank's country director for Indonesia since 2007, oversees the bank's management of the Multi Donor Fund for Aceh and Nias.

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Fighting To Save Salatiga's History

Jakarta Globe, Angela Dewan, January 29, 2010

Before and after. Many of Salatiga's historic buildings are now in disrepair. (JG Photo)

In the 1930s and ’40s, the Dutch buildings that lined the streets of Salatiga, Central Java, were iconic of Indonesia’s fight for independence — that is, of course, only when they were set on fire.

Back then, torching hotels and office buildings was a way of sending the Dutch colonialists a clear message: Get out!

The people of Salatiga today have no one to drive out and no reason to burn down the beautiful buildings that the Dutch left behind. In fact, members of the community are now fighting the government to protect the very buildings that their ancestors sought to destroy.

In stark contrast to Jakarta, there is only one mall in Salatiga — the modest Taman Sari, which has little more than a Ramayana department store.

The mall sits on the spot where the city’s main road, Jalan Sudirman, starts, along which hole-in-the-wall stalls offer locals everything they need and nothing they don’t. And unlike the high-rise buildings that dominate Jakarta’s skyline, there are none in Salatiga.

However, the luxury of walking along paved sidewalks and through parks while admiring this quaint city’s colonial architecture may soon become a thing of the past. This is because the local and provincial governments have yet to formally identify which buildings are a part of Salatiga’s heritage and therefore warrant legal protection.

“If we put up a lot of malls in Salatiga, we will be worse than Semarang, which has already lost many of its historical buildings,” said writer Eddy Supangkat, coordinator of Forped BCB Salatiga, the organization spearheading the campaign to conserve Salatiga’s heritage buildings.

“I want Salatiga to be known for its historical buildings, not for its malls.”

The local and provincial governments have had 65 years since independence to figure out what to do with their heritage buildings.

This month, they have been feeling the heat as the public demands that they get a move on.

“The Salatiga government doesn’t yet have legal authority over these buildings. They are the responsibility of the Ministry of Tourism and Culture, which acts through the Conservation of Cultural Heritage Agency [BP3],” Valentino Haribowo, head of the Salatiga government’s public relations department, told the Jakarta Globe.

Valentino gave his comments at the local government’s office, an old building marked with a gambrel roof, decadent high ceilings, grand iron light fittings and a white rendered exterior that are characteristic of Dutch architecture.

Even though the local government has denied responsibility for the buildings, Salatiga Mayor John Manuel Manoppo has given a private company permission to knock down a building in the military’s old headquarters, now known as the ex-Kodim complex.

The 100-year-old complex was bought by PT NV Yogyakarta last year. The company plans to develop a mall there and the complex is now completely fenced in with meters-high metal fences.

After months of public campaigns against the development, the company has put up a sign outside the complex that reads: “This land and building are legally owned by PT NV Yogyakarta.”

Through a few holes in the fence, the public can peer into the site, where the main building has been leveled off, save for a couple of walls.

“There’s no problem with the demolition. The only issue is what will be built afterwards,” Mayor Manoppo told members of the local media last year.

But following a spate of negative press and lobbying by the community — including an active Facebook group and a coin drive— the government has changed its tune and is now claiming that it wants the complex to be protected as a heritage site.

On Jan. 22, a group of activists marched to the local government office, demanding legal protection of the ex-Kodim complex.

On Wednesday, police questioned local government staff over the demolished building.

In theory, the complex is already legally protected. The 1992 Law on the Protection of Cultural Heritage states that any building more than 50 years old is automatically considered a heritage site and should therefore be listed as such and preserved.

Forped BCB tried to have the ex-Kodim building registered as a heritage site before it was sold, so that NV Yogyakarta would be unable to develop the site. “What I am worried about is that there are more heritage buildings that have been sold to private owners,” Eddy said.

NV Yogyakarta’s operations were halted two weeks ago due to public pressure. The Conservation of Cultural Heritage Agency sent a warning letter to the Salatiga government, which then forwarded the message to NV Yogyakarta.

The warning, however, came too late.

“We sent BP3’s warning to the owner, but we didn’t realize the main building had already been demolished,” Valentino said.

It is unknown if or when NV Yogyakarta will go ahead with its development plans, although it has submitted a request to the local legislature for permission to develop the mall.

The local and provincial governments are now cooperating with BP3 to examine 16 buildings for heritage status consideration, including the government-owned office, one Christian church and a number of schools.

It is hoped that the move will be echoed throughout the country. On Jan. 20, Indonesia’s oldest movie theater, Bioskop Banteng in Pangkal Pinal, Belitung, was demolished. The theater was built in 1917.

In Salatiga, examples of old buildings that have been bought and demolished include a Dutch film studio that is now a KFC restaurant and a former hotel and school that are now markets.

The ex-Kodim and Bioskop Banteng cases have raised suspicions of corruption in local governments.

“The local governments are the ones allowing these buildings to be knocked down,” Joe Marbun, coordinator of the Cultural Heritage Advocacy Community, told the Globe.

“These buildings are legally protected by law, so why are they being demolished? The governments obviously have motives.”

When asked how much the local government would profit from a new mall in town, Valentino did not respond, only saying that the Salatiga government now supported the protection of the ex-Kodim building.

Eddy was not willing to speculate. “I’m not exactly sure if there’s corruption in this part of the government and I wouldn’t want to falsely accuse anyone. I prefer to think positively,” he said.

He added that he was certain corruption existed in some parts of the local government.

But he is happy with the positive support he has found in the community.

“It is important we preserve our history, like Bung Karno said Jasmerah: ‘ Jangan sekali-kali melupakan sejarah ’ [‘Don’t ever forget your history’].”

Audio slide show: Jakarta's dark side

The Jakarta Post, by Inga Ting and Moch N. Kurniawan, Tue, 01/26/2010 8:40 PM

View Audio slide show

Every year, 300,000 newcomers pour into Jakarta in search of new opportunities. Most will end up in one of the cities many slums. Although they are among the nation's poorest, these unwanted residents pay more than the rich for basic necessities like clean water, sanitation and solid waste removal.

This is the hidden reality of Asia's rapid industrialisation, which has condemned more than 28 million Indonesians - including around one third of Jakarta's 13 million residents - to life in the slums.

In East Jakarta, 70,000 makeshift shelters housing more than 200,000 people huddle on the banks of the Ciliwung River. Year after year these residents battle not only poverty, malnutrition and disease, but also the annual floods of one of the city's most polluted rivers.

Green Whistle-Blowing: Now by Text

Jakarta Globe, Fidelis E. Satriastanti, January 26, 2010

Workers sweeping up trash from Menteng River in Jakarta. Poor sanitation habits, including dumping garbage into waterways, have led to massive contamination of the country’s drinking water. (Photo: Safir Makki, JG)

Did you catch someone in the act of dumping buckets full of trash or toxic material into a river near you? Do you have a burning desire to tell off the government for doing little to halt the destruction of forests? If you want these matters heard and addressed directly by the government, just pick up your mobile phone.

The State Ministry of the Environment on Tuesday invited members of the public to text their environment-related complaints to a new hotline – 0811-932-932. The launch of the number coincides with a new Ministry Web site, penegakanhukum.menlh.go.id, dedicated to news, views, and existing regulations on the environment.

“We received so many complaints, mostly through letters, fax or e-mail, but the methods were ineffective and took a long time. It is simpler for villagers or anybody else to text, rather than find access to the Internet and type out their complaints,” said Ilyas Asaad, deputy minister for environmental compliance. He added that on average the Ministry received 190 complaints a year.

“With the new system, the Ministry is hoping that we can also monitor environmental conditions in Papua. One of the difficulties for monitoring environmental conditions is the relationship between locals and the district or subdistrict administrations,” Ilyas said.

He said administrators across the nation were still finding it a challenge to incorporate environmental issues in their local regulations.

“Ideally, all complaints should be taken into account. But because we still lack resources and the necessary funding, we need to set priorities and will, for example, go after larger companies instead of smaller ones,” Ilyas said.

Berry Nahdian Furqon, executive director of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi), said the biggest challenge for the ministry was the steps the government would take once it received the complaints.

“The operational action counts. The relationship between the central government and regional administrations has been quite loose. The Ministry needs all the help they can receive from local administrations,” Berry said.

Furthermore, he said that green groups could use the system to address their complaints but they would still maintain their own independent methods to express their opinions.

Schools get Rp 420m donation from Americans

Muhammad Nafik and Syofiardi Bachyul Jb. , The Jakarta Post, Padang | Fri, 01/22/2010 10:11 AM

A display of destruction: Padang Prayoga Foundation chairman Phillips Rusihan Sakti (right) shows photos of destroyed or damaged buildings from the Sept. 30, 2009 quake, to businessman Edward I. Wanandi at the foundation’s office in Padang, West Sumatra, on Thursday. JP/Syofiardi Bachyul Jb.

More than three months after a powerful earthquake devastated much of West Sumatra, foreign donations continue to pour in.

Two Islamic and Catholic schools in Padang, which were among those destroyed by the quake, received Rp 420 million in aid from Americans as part of efforts to help the victims.

The Wanandi family handed over Rp 210 million of the aid Thursday to the Islamic Adabiah education foundation and the same amount to the Catholic Padang Prayoga Foundation in two separate ceremonies in Padang.

“Almost all of the money are donations from American people, and the rest is from Indonesians living in Chicago,” said businessman Edward I. Wanandi, who represented the Wanandi family along with his brother, priest Markus S. Wanandi, in extending the aid fund.

Edward said the aid was raised during a dinner function he organized on Nov. 22, 2009, in cooperation with Loyola University of Chicago, the Indonesian Consulate General in Chicago and the Indonesians Living Abroad in Reach.

“At the event we collected up to US$45,000 from those in attendance,” said Edward, who is a graduate of Prayoga’s KR elementary school.

He said the two education foundations were awarded the donations were because both had “good reputations” in education development in Padang as well as “clear programs” to rebuild their destroyed schools.

“It’s the most aid the school has so far received [from individuals] after the quake,” said Prof. Muchlis Muchtar, Adabiah education foundation chairman.

He added that recently his institution had also received Rp 100 million from donors.

Muchlis said the quake had destroyed or damaged several of Adabiah’s school and office buildings as well as its mosque, costing the foundation Rp 4.5 billion.

“We have so far received a total of Rp 520 million from the government, alumni and others.”

Both Muchlis and Veridiana Somanto, who head the Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Committee for Padang Diocese’s Buildings at the Padang Prayoga Foundation, expressed gratitude for the donations.

Veridiana said her institution still expected more donations as the quake caused almost Rp 100 billion in damages to its school buildings and cathedral.

Govt pools foreign aid to reconstruct W. Sumatra

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Fri, 01/22/2010 10:49 AM

The government launched Thursday a multilateral donor fund aiming to mobilize and manage Rp 22.9 trillion (US$2.47 billion) to help rebuild earthquake-hit West Sumatra.

The fund, designated the Indonesia Multi Donor Fund Facility for Disaster Response (IMDFF-DR), is expected to provide a solution to some of the previous problems encountered in the previously poorly coordinated channeling of donated funds after natural disasters.

“This country is prone to natural disasters so we should prepare a good management system to handle donations, not only for West Sumatra, but also for other disasters that may arise in the future.

West Sumatra was hard-hit by a 7.9-magnitude earthquake in September last year, killing at least 1,117 people.

The earthquake reportedly heavily damaged 114,797 houses, moderately damaged 67,198 houses and lightly damaged 67,838 houses.

National Development Planning Board (Bappenas) Deputy Chairman Lukita Dinarsyah Tuwo said during the launching ceremony that the country had previous experience of rather disorganized and uncoordinated distribution of incoming disaster aid funds.

“We have learnt from previous disasters like the earthquake and tsunami in Aceh and also the Yogyakarta earthquake when the channeling of donations has been not well-organized.” Lukita said.

The IMDFF-DR was expected to be the sole official government entity with the authority to pool and channel donated funds from foreign governments and agencies.

“We hope this can [help] eliminate the problems we encountered in the past, so that we can recover from disasters more quickly,” Lukita said.

This body is fully under government control, and managed by a steering committee to be chaired by the Bappenas deputy chairman on regions and regional autonomy.

“Among the officials involved in the body are representatives from the National Disaster Mitigation Agency [BNPB], as well as all disaster-related ministries, including the Finance Ministry,” Lukita said.

A number of international organizations have supported the new body; these include the World Bank as a trustee, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as the administrative agent, as well as the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), and the International Finance Corporation (IFC).

Bakri Beck, the deputy for rehabilitation and reconstruction at the BNPB, meanwhile, said that West Sumatra would need an estimated Rp 22.9 trillion to fund recovery.

“As much as Rp 3.23 trillion are needed to help the economy recover in the province, both in the short-term and long-term.

“Physical reconstruction, meanwhile, would cost up to Rp 19.67 trillion,” he said.

According to Bakri, 80 percent of physical reconstruction will be needed for destroyed or damaged infrastructure (such as public facilities, roads and bridges) and housing.

“Infrastructure in the productive sector, such as trade and Small Medium Enterprises [SMEs], suffered 11 percent of the total infrastructure damage reported,” he said.

The government would be able to allocate to the required recovery program Rp 7.1 trillion from the state budget, or only 31 percent of the total funds needed to fund full recovery in West Sumatra.

Bakrie added that the West Sumatra administration and the BNPB had studied that the government would need to disburse up to Rp 3.54 trillion just for infrastructure recovery this year, in order to meet fairly urgent needs.

“In 2011, physical rehabilitation would need another Rp 2.87 trillion,” he said. (bbs)

Dutch govt helps Papua formulate energy policy

Antara News, Friday, January 22, 2010 13:10 WIB

Jayapura, Papua (ANTARA News) - The Dutch government will extend assistance to the Papua provincial government to improve human resources capabilities in the field of renewable energy as a step to formulate an energy policy at local level.

"This assistance is given through the CASINDO project manager, and Papua is selected as one of five regions in Indonesia as the location of the renewable energy project," Casindo coordinator, Nico van der Linden said here on Friday.

Apart from Papua, the project also covered North Sumatra, Central Java, Yogyakarta and West Nusa Tenggara (NTB).

The capacity development and strengthening for energy policy formulation and implementation of sustainable energy projects in Indonesia (Casindo) is one of the components of the renewable energy program which will be implemented by the Dutch Embassy here.

Nico also said that Papua with its special autonomy status should be able to develop its renewable energy potentials and formulate the regional energy policy while economizing energy measures.

In addition, Nico expressed hope that a regional energy forum can be set for the discussion and formulation of energy policies at regional level.

This policy will be proposed to the local government for approval, he said, adding that it needs an active role of all the stakeholders in the region the government, industries and academicians.

Cenderawasih University has been chosen to implement a work program and make coordination with related parties, said Nico, who is also a researcher at the Netherlands Energy Research Center (ECN).

Casindo which has been operating from 2009 to 2011 was the continuation of the "Contributing to poverty alleviation through regional energy planning in Indonesia (CAREPI) project which has ended in 2008.

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PU office to set example in green certification

Prodita Sabarini, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Tue, 01/19/2010 11:04 AM

The planned new Public Works Ministry office on Jl. Pattimura in South Jakarta will be the first building in Indonesia to be certified by the Green Building Council of Indonesia and will at least achieve a gold ranking for design, an organization director says.

Green Building Council of Indonesia (GBCI) director of rating and technology Rana Yusuf Nasir said that the new building was the council’s pilot project for green building.

Planners designed the building site plan to include zero rainwater run off. It will also have a water recycling and treatment system with 83 percent water consumption. It will include an efficient energy system that will save energy consumption by up to 30 percent, with a target of 200 kilowatt-hours per square meter each year.

According to the GBCI, the average office usage in Jakarta currently stands at 250 kilowatt-hours per square meter per year.

Rana presented the building designs recently as a case study for businesses with interests in the green building sector.

The GBCI also launched its framework for a “greenship” rating system. The council plans to launch its official rating system for newly constructed buildings in March or early April. The council will prepare a rating system for existing buildings next week.

Rana said that the greenship rating will have four rankings — bronze, silver, gold and, the highest, platinum. A building receives bronze certification if it fulfills at least 35 percent of the total points needed; at least 46 percent for silver, gold 57 percent and platinum 73 percent.

He said that looking at the current planning of the building, it would at least be given gold certification.

Consulting company PT Jakarta Konsultindo is the building’s planning consultant. Director of Jakarta Konsultindo Maryanti Kusuma Masmara said that it was in the planning process.

“The construction will begin around this year,” she said.

The GBCI scrutinized several aspects of the building plan, according to its rating system framework.

Rana said that the organization examined the planned building’s appropriate site development, energy efficiency and refrigerant, water conservation, material resources and cycle as well as indoor air health and building environment management.

The planned building would gain points due to its accessibility to public transport. The plan also included a bicycle rack, and bathroom and changing room facilities. The building will be energy efficient utilizing natural daylight and an average air-conditioning temperature of 25 degrees Celsius.

The plan for the ministry building has fulfilled 66 percent of the total points needed.

Rana said that it was possible to achieve an even higher rank. “It is possible to be more energy efficient,” he said.

Office building and mall operators at the seminar said they were positive about the upcoming rating system from the GBCI.

“Without the rating system, we will be left behind other countries. We have to implement it fast,” Grand Indonesia Shopping Town engineering and maintenance senior manager Slamet Ristono.

GBCI chairwoman Naning S. Adiningsih Adiwoso said that the demand for green buildings was high in Jakarta.

Harbor Construction Permits in Only a Week

Tempo Interactive, Friday, 15 January, 2010 | 20:23 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Makassar: The Transportation Department has shortened the permit issuance time of harbor construction from one year to one week.

“This no longer time enough to bribe people into issuing a permit,” said the Director General of Sea Transport Sunaryo yesterday.

Sunaryo said that the efficient working permit issuance will apply to private companies and regional government owned enterprises.

The effort will freshen up investors’ commitment to invest in port construction services.A member of the South Sulawesi Regional House of Representatives, Ajiep Padindang, welcomed the Transportation Minister intent’s to improve permit issuance efficiency. But he demanded that they impose a standard for harbors that can obtain permits.

He also demanded the government to submit a harbor management system to the region or to investors.

This is to prevent a state port operator Pelindo monopoly.

SULFAEDAR PAY

All rivers in Central Java polluted, says green agency

Suherdjoko, The Jakarta Post, Semarang | Fri, 01/15/2010 10:17 PM

All the rivers in the Central Java region have dangerously high levels of pollutants, including manure, human feces and industrial waste, the provincial environmental agency warned Friday.

“The levels of E. coli bacteria as well as the biochemical and chemical oxygen demand in these rivers are all well above accepted safe levels,” agency head Djoko Sutrisno said.

He placed the blame partly on the “irresponsible behaviour” of people living and working close to the waterways.

Citing an example, he said parts of the Bengawan Solo River had been polluted by industrial waste, with many companies discharging effluent into the river.

Because of the pollution, he said, water from these rivers and other polluted water resources was no longer potable and it was not even feasible to further process it into drinking water.

Indonesia Sweetens Deal for Private Power Companies

Jakarta Globe, Janeman Latul

A pre-paid electricity customer topping up his account. The government wants independent power producers to build most of the new power plants in the second phase of its “fast-track” electricity project. (Antara Photo)

The government will scrap import duties on equipment needed to build power plants to encourage independent companies to build plants in the second phase of its “fast-track” electricity generating program.

A presidential decree to this effect, obtained by the Jakarta Globe on Thursday, was signed last week.

“The construction of power plants will be exempt from import duties and enjoy other facilities that will be regulated by the Finance Ministry,” the decree said.

However, one private sector energy firm interested in participating in the fast-track program said the government would need to offer more incentives to independent producers if it wanted them to build plants in the second phase of the program.

The ambitious $15.6 billion program calls for the construction of 82 new coal-fired, geothermal, hydroelectric, and natural gas-fired power plants across the country to alleviate chronic power shortages, with the plants expected to come online between 2013 and 2015.

The government hopes to entice independent producers to build the majority of the plants — 58 — and supply a total capacity of 4,262 megawatts of power. Many of the plants to be built by independent producers would be in remote, sparsely populated areas.

PLN will build the remaining 24 plants with a combined capacity of 6,415 MW.

Erwin Aksa, president director of PT Bosowa, a diversified business conglomerate involved in the energy sector, said that while he welcomed the presidential decree it was unlikely to be enough to encourage independent producers to get more involved in the sector.

“It’s a good start, but the power producers need more certainty because we’re not the only country in Asia that is trying to attract investors to infrastructure projects,” Erwin said. “Investors would first be looking to see whether our project offers a better return than in other countries. Incentives, including tax breaks and guarantees on land acquisitions, should also be included in the decree, to make the policy comprehensive and attractive.”

The decree also guaranteed that PLN would purchase electricity from independent producers involved in the “fast-track” program, with the details to be issued later by the Finance Ministry.

Currently, state electricity company PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara’s generating capacity is only sufficient to supply about 60 percent of national demand for electricity.

PLN buys electricity from private producers to partially meet the shortfall.

Independent producers have only recently been allowed to supply PLN with power. Previously, they were only permitted to supply large industrial users with factories located near their plants.

Jacobus Purwono, the Energy Ministry’s director general of electricity and energy utilization, said on Wednesday that the government planned to subsidize the cost of power PLN bought from private producers.

Currently, government subsidies on electricity force PLN to sell power at as little as 40 percent of production costs, and it has often demanded equally low prices from independent producers.

Low electricity prices and a lack of government guarantees on projects have scared many investors away from “fast-track” projects.

In the first phase of the “fast-track” program, which is still ongoing, PLN is building 14 new coal-fired plants.