IO – Indonesia is a country of many challenges. For example, it has a large population of about 270.2 million, and a relatively high level of open unem ployment (5.28% in 2019, rising to 7.07% in 2020). Many of our citizens live below the poverty line, we have a high level of food imports, we suffer from a lot of natural disasters, and our rules and regulations are strongly sec toral and do not harmonize well with each other.
Budi Mulyanto of the Environmen tal Aspiration Receiving Team stated that the Omnibus Law concerning Job Creation (a.k.a. the “Job Cre ation Law”) is an effort to make job creation more measurable. The Law also strengthens environmental gov ernance and makes it more transpar ent. “Therefore, the Job Creation Law harmonizes Government policies at both central and regional levels, and cuts down bureaucratic chains in order to support investment climate, which in turn helps job creation. It makes administering for permits more integrated, effective, and efficient; im proves coordination between relevant Government agencies; provides stron ger legal certainty for citizens; and provides legal protection for policymak ers,” he said in the Katadata webinar themed “Job Creation Law Derivative Laws: Reviewing the Commitment for Environmental Production” held on Wednesday (10/2/2021).
Executing Regulations of the Job Creation Law include 40 Learning Implementation Plans (Rencana Pelaksanaan Pembelajaran– “R-PP”) and 4 Government Regulations that contain the people’s aspirations that have been submitted to the Government. Howev er, the people’s inputs and aspirations are so varied that not all of them are acceptable. “We do our best to analyze, qualify, and consider the people’s in puts and aspirations. Some of these aspirations are fully accepted, some declined, others partially accepted. However, all aspirations are extreme ly important for improving existing R-PPs,” Budi said.
The Ministry of Environment and Forestry’s Director of Forest Planning and Environmental Organization, Ari Sujianto, stated that the Government Regulations replaced are Government Regulation No. 27 of 2012 concerning Environmental Permits, Government Regulation No. 82 of 2001 concerning the Management of Water Quality and the Control of Water Pollution, Gov ernment Regulation No. 41 of 1999 concerning the Control of Air Pollu tion, Government Regulation No. 19 of 1999 concerning the Control of Pollu tion and/or Damage to the Sea, and Government Regulation No. 101 of 2014 concerning Toxic and Hazardous Waste Management, while the revised Government Regulation is Government Regulation No. 46 of 2017 concerning Environmental Economic Instruments. “We also formulated new Government Regulations whose substance orig inates from Ministerial Regulations relating to environmental guidance and monitoring, the imposition of en vironmental administrative sanctions, and the regulation of environmental damage and quality controls,” he said. Ari further adds that environmental permits are not to be eliminated, but rather integrated into business permits instead. An Environmental Impact Analysis (Analisis Dampak Lingkungan – “Amdal”) now involves feasibility tests, certification that environmental quality is not reduced, certification of adher ence to standards, statement of integra tion, and statement of understanding of concepts. “Integrating the environmen tal permit into the business permit will strengthen law enforcement efforts and environmental protection efforts at the same time,” he said.
The Job Creation Law does not eliminate the involvement of citizens in the creation of Amdals. On the con trary, citizens are involved more pro portionately. “The Job Creation Law pays better attention to the interest of the people who are directly affected by the business plans of activity initia tors. It involves these directly-affected citizens and NGOs that guide them in the creation of Amdals. Therefore, this Law provides a forum for environmen tal observers and environmental NGOs in charge of the affected citizens,” Ari said. “The Government regulates the involvement of citizens who are not directly affected, through its Feasibil ity Testing Team (Tim Uji Kelayakan – “TUK”).” (eka)