In a press conference on Tuesday, Environment Minister Hanif Faisol Nurofiq explained that the environmental evaluation will be conducted in three stages: a rapid assessment, an evaluation of the suitability of the Strategic Environmental Assessment (KLHS) implementation, and an environmental audit.
The evaluation will be conducted by a multi-sectoral team, including experts and lecturers under the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, and Technology (Kemdiktisaintek), he added.
“We are preparing these three stages to be completed within three months. We will finalize the strategic environmental assessment, including the evaluation of spatial planning, in collaboration with Kemdiktisaintek,” Nurofiq stated.
According to him, the evaluation is crucial to mitigating potential disaster risks during the housing construction phase.
Meanwhile, the rapid assessment stage involves determining location suitability by the Ministry of Environment in collaboration with experts, followed by urban and settlement planning conducted together with the Indonesian Planning Experts Association.
“Then, if the locations are deemed appropriate, we will compare provincial spatial plans in each of the three provinces with actual conditions on the ground to identify gaps in efforts to improve environmental carrying capacity,” Nurofiq explained.
He added that the environmental audit includes examining permits such as Environmental Impact Analyses (Amdal) and Environmental Management and Monitoring Efforts (UKL-UPL).
“Landscape-based Amdal and UKL-UPL, as well as coal mineral extraction activities, will be evaluated through environmental audits. These audits are currently underway, particularly in North Sumatra,” he said.
“This environmental audit will provide a detailed picture of what happened and what could have been avoided. Therefore, we will conduct environmental audits on nearly 100 business units in North Sumatra, West Sumatra, and Aceh,” the minister continued.
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Translator: Sean Filo M, Resinta Sulistiyandari
Editor: M Razi Rahman
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