Top Firms Get Poor Marks on Environment in Indonesia
Posted on: Wednesday, 10 August 2005, 09:02 CDT
Top firms get poor marks on environment in Indonesia
JAKARTA, Aug. 9 (Xinhua) -- The Indonesian government has announced that a number of multinational firms including oil and gas firms Conocophillips, Caltex, Unocal, Total E and P and pharmaceutical firms Bayer and Pfizer got red labels for poor performance in environmental management.
A 2004-2005 environmental audit conducted on 466 selected firms showed that 150 of them were given the red mark and 72 got black for not doing enough in terms of environmental management, reported The Jakarta Post.
State Minister of the Environment Rachmat Witoelar was quoted as saying there were 14 firms that got black twice and the government would give them one month to improve.
"If they failed to improve or show goodwill to, my office will take them to court in civil or criminal suits based on damages they have inflicted on the environment," he said.
The Company Environmental Management Assessment Program (PROPER) was first started in 1995 before the government suspended it in 1997, citing economic and political constraints. The program was resumed in 2002.
PROPER has a color-coded system in declining order for companies - - gold, green, blue, red and black -- with gold indicating exemplary environmental performance and black substandard performance.
However, none of the companies audited this year received a gold mark for satisfactory performance.
The assessment is based on at least 50 criteria, including control of liquid waste, air pollution and hazardous waste, implementation of environmental impact analysis, management of resources and environment and public involvement.
The audit, conducted between January 2004 and May 2005, revealed that 23 firms were given the green label and 221 the blue label.
Rachmat said the "red firms" were deemed not to have brought harm to the environment yet, but were poor in environmental management.
"There are no sanctions against firms. But if any investors or potential shareholders asked, I will have to mention that," he said, adding that announcing the names of the firms should encourage them to work harder on promoting good environmental management policies.
According to the minister, his office had maintained close contact with the companies and therefore, most of them would not be surprised by these latest results.
Source: Xinhua News Agency - CEIS
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