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2 Asia Pac. J. Envtl. L. 366 (1997)
The Indonesian Environmental Management Act of 1997

handle is hein.journals/apjel2 and id is 373 raw text is: The Indonesian Environmental Management Act of 1997 A new Environmental Management Act of 1997 was signed into law by the Indonesian President on 19 September 1997. The Act, which replaces the Environmental Management Act (Act No 4) of 1982, contains many innovations and advances, although disappointingly, the special provision on the role of NGOs in environ- mental management, as stipulated in section 19 of Act No 4, has been eliminated. Perhaps the most prominent feature of the new law is its institutional implications for the Environment Ministry. Participation in Environmental Decision-Making In practice, communities face considerable difficulties in securing information, whether concerning the results of studies, environmental impact assessments, spatial planning, licensing, or the results of monitoring of compliance by regulatory entities. The majority of Indonesia's bureaucrats do not yet understand the funda- mental importance of both participation in decision-making and a right to information as elements of genuine community participation. Section 5(2) of the Act provides that: every person has a right to environ- mental information which is connected to their role in environmental management. This right to information is complemented by obligations imposed on companies to provide true and accurate information about environmental management (section 6(2)). This covers information related to the compliance status of the enterprise concerned. In combination with section 5(2) regarding the right to information, this implies that anyone can request information from an enterprise concerning its compliance status and the enterprise is obliged to fulfil it. The question is whether new values and an awareness of the impor- tance of information sharing can emerge in bureaucratic circles despite the absence of detailed provisions on the mechanisms of such information disclosure. A corollary question is whether the leverage of societal groups can actually increase in the decision-making process. Section 5(3) of the new law guarantees every person a right to participate in environmental management. Its substance does not vary from the similar provision in Act No 4 of 1982, but the difference of the two lies in the elucidation. The 366

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