RECENT ESTH REPORT

INDONESIA: ENVIRONMENT, SCIENCE &TECHNOLOGY, AND HEALTH HIGHLIGHTS JUNE 2005

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Polio Cases Spread outside of West Java Region

The Central Java Provincial Health Office reported on June 20 that it had discovered a positive polio case in Demak Regency, Central Java.  The MOH and World Health organization (WHO) also announced on July 4 a positive polio case in Lampung, Sumatra.  MOH Director General for Disease Control and Environmental Control I Nyoman Kandun announced that his office and the WHO are investigating the cases.  Kandun said the MOH needs to investigate further to determine whether or not the virus in Demak and Lampung spread from the West Java town of Sukabumi, where Indonesia’s April 2005 polio outbreak began.  The MOH’s findings will determine whether it will conduct polio immunization campaigns in Central Java, Yogyakarta, Lampung, and South Sumatra.  The MOH recently carried out several anti-polio campaigns in West Java and Banten provinces and the greater Jakarta area.

Citing budget limitations and insufficient stocks of vaccines for conducting a nationwide immunization campaign, Minister of Health Siti Fadilah announced the GOI would carry out the next round of immunizations in seven provinces in early July.  Director General Kandun said that his office provisionally plans to launch a vaccination campaign in August and September 2005 to protect at least 12 million children under five.  Ideally, vaccination should be carried out simultaneously nationwide but such a program would be costly--the 1995 National Immunization Campaign cost Rp 100 billion (USD 10.5 million at today’s exchange rate).  The GOI is still calculating the budget for the upcoming anti-polio campaigns.

Environmental Education Enters The School Curriculum

To commemorate World Environmental Day, Minister of National Education Bambang Sudibyo and State Minister for the Environment Rachmat Witoelar signed an MOU on June 3 to implement environmental education in schools.  Sudibyo said that the environmental curriculum would have a practical rather than theoretical approach and would be integrated into existing subjects.  The State Ministry of Environment (MOE) will develop the educational materials and train teachers, and cooperate with the Ministry of National Education for technical implementation.  A similar agreement that would have brought environmental education into the schools in 1996-2001 was not implemented, however.

Observation of World Environmental Day

The MOE coordinated GOI activities celebrating World Environmental Day during a June 2-6 “Environmental Week”.  The MOE conducted a recycled product creation contest for senior high schools, a painting contest on the theme of green cities, seminars on national clean production centers and sustainable development, and the launch of a book about natural conservation principles in Islam.  The MOE cooperated with the Indonesian City Planning Association (IATPI) and Indonesia Solid Waste Association (INSWA) to hold a national dialogue on solutions for waste management in Indonesia.  Environment Minister Witoelar also attended a seminar about Company Performance Evaluation and Ranking Program (PROPER) and its implementation.  On June 6, President Yudhoyono presented awards to 10 individuals and to 37 cities for contributions to environmental management.

The MOE also sponsored a trip to an aerosol filling center during Environmental Week.  To meet a 1990 MOH decree banning chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) use in aerosols for cosmetic products, the MOE oversees an aerosol filling center facility operated by the Indonesian firm PT Candi Swadaya Sentosa with multilateral funding.  The facility enables aerosol-producing companies to get rid of CFC in their products at a low cost. 

A 13-year Indonesian boy, Mahdi Nurchayo, was Asia-Pacific regional winner of the fourteenth International Children's Painting Competition on the Environment, jointly organized by the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), Bayer Ag, and the Japan-based Foundation for Global Peace and Environment (FGPE).  Around 10,000 children from 60 countries participated in the painting competition.  The UNEP invited Mahdi and his father to attend the award ceremony in San Francisco. 

UNEP and Indonesia Call for Aceh Environmental Recovery

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), MOE, and national and international NGOs held a conference on June 21-23 in Banda Aceh to discuss how to integrate good environmental practices and policies into reconstruction plans for Aceh and Nias.  The conference highlighted the need to learn from experience from the Aceh region itself.  UNEP Executive Director Klaus Toepler, Environment Minister Witoelar, and Aceh Governor Azwar Abubakar agreed that Aceh needs an Environmental Recovery Program that would use economic, social, and technological approaches to safeguard the environment during reconstruction.   

The Aceh conference focused on the need for green reconstruction in post-tsunami Aceh, highlighting issues such as spatial planning, housing and building material, coastal and sustainable agriculture management, waste management, water and sanitation, and community participation, monitoring and local laws.  Local and national government agencies, members of Parliament, donor agencies, community organizations, NGOs, professional associations, private sectors representatives, and the media attended the conference. 

Parliament Agrees in Principle to Nuclear Power Plant

The National Nuclear Energy Agency (BATAN) and DPR Commission VII held a public hearing on June 2 to discuss GOI plans to build a nuclear power plant.  Commission VII members said they agree in theory with the idea of nuclear energy, but asked BATAN to do more assessments and public education.  BATAN has already completed feasibility and site studies examining risks posed by floods, earthquakes, volcanic activity, and tsunamis.  It has assessed three locations--Ujung Lemah Abang, Ujung Watu and Ujung Grenggengan, all located in the Muria Peninsula about 150 km/93.2 miles to the northeast of Semarang, Central Java and 7 km/4.4 miles from Tanjung Jati B Gas Power Plant.  Construction of a nuclear power plant is part of the National Electricity Plan (RUKN) issued by the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources in 2002.

BATAN Chairman Soedyartomo Soentono explained to Commission VII members that GOI envisions building a 6,000 megawatt (MW) nuclear power plant that could contribute 2 percent of national electricity needs over the next 20 years, predicted to reach 300,000 MW.  BATAN is optimistic that the price of electricity, at US 3.5-4.2 cent per kilowatt, would be competitive.  The agency expects that it can secure a location permit by 2006, begin a tender process by 2008, and start construction by 2010 and operations by 2016.  The plant would begin commercial operations by 2017 and have a 60-year operational period with a possible 40-year extension.  Soedyartomo added that the nuclear power plant would employ 10,000 workers during construction and 300 operational staff. 

Using Garbage for Steam Power Plant

State electricity company PLN’s business unit for Central Java and Yogyakarta has signed an agreement with the Indonesian firm PT. Global Waste Solution for a USD 25 million project to develop a steam power plant that will use garbage for fuel.  The 25 MW capacity garbage-fuel plant will be built in Piyungan, Sleman Regency.  PLN officials say they expect construction to take 18 months and the plant to commence operations in early 2007.  Local news media say that British and Indonesian experts will work together on the technical aspects of processing garbage into fuel for electricity generation. 

GOI Needs a Marine Oil Spill Contingency Plan

On the sidelines of the June 14-16 Sea Communication Regional Conference in Sorong, Papua, Director General of Sea Communications Tjuk Sukardiman said his directorate and the State Ministry of Environment will renew their efforts to get presidential endorsement this year for a national contingency plan for marine oil spills.  He said Indonesia suffers huge environmental losses because of oil spills at sea.  Tjuk noted that his department had submitted a draft national contingency plan to the state secretariat in 1986, but it never received Presidential endorsement.  Without a plan in place, Tjuk said, interagency coordination and decision-making in response to oil spills in Indonesian territorial waters are severely impeded.

The chief of Indonesia’s Marine and Coastal Security Unit (KPLP) in the Directorate General of Sea Communications, which performs some functions of a coast guard, said that of the three countries protecting the Malacca Strait--Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore--only Singapore has a Coast Guard capable of reacting quickly to an oil spill incident. He commented that Singapore would receive millions of U.S. dollars from the insurance firm for the incident, while Indonesia would be left with only the oil spill.

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