JAKARTA - The National Executive Director of the Environmental Society (Walhi) Boy Even Sembiring said that the process of thorough correction and stopping the issuance of environmental approval is a major homework that must be prioritized by Jumhur Hidayat as the new Minister of Environment (LH).
At the same time, Boy said, the government needed to strengthen supervision and law enforcement because environmental damage was often not caused by a lack of rules, but by weak implementation and supervision.
Spatial planning and licensing must also be tightened so as not to open up space for the expansion of reclamation, extractive industries and infrastructure projects that damage forests, coastal ecosystems and islands.
"Instead of carrying out a thorough corrective action, the LH Ministry under Hanif Faisol instead simplified environmental issues by only focusing on the issue of sampling and other examples by reissuing environmental approval in Dairi Regency which had previously been canceled by the Supreme Court," Boy said in a statement. official received by VOI, Tuesday, April 28.
According to Boy, the current minister must clearly increase the use of his authority to evaluate all environmental approvals and at the same time not approve new environmental documents for various extractive industrial investments.
"More strict supervision should also be prioritized by the new minister to ensure that repeated violations no longer occur," he said.
He assessed that the ecological disasters in Aceh, North Sumatra and West Sumatra were examples of the weak system of supervision over companies that received environmental approval.
Even though the government has revoked 28 business licenses, the recovery of the environment from the ecological disaster is still absent.
Boy emphasized that the change of ministers would not solve the problem without fundamental corrections to policies such as the Cipta Kerja Law.
Therefore, he said, the Minister of the Majority must also dare to convey to President Prabowo Subianto that the weak root of environmental law enforcement can only be improved by restoring some of the substance of the Law on the Protection and Management of the Environment (PPLH) which was weakened by the Law on Cipta Karya.
Regarding the protection of environmental activists, Walhi also asked the majority to ensure that the implementation of Article 66 of the PPLH Law must be maximized. The Minister with the instrument must ensure that the guarantee of protection for environmental activists can be implemented.
Ministers must be committed and speak out to demand an end to repressive measures and criminalization of people who defend environmental sustainability.
This protection is very important considering that in various regions today people face environmental pollution, air pollution, the carrying capacity of the environment continues to decrease and the poor management of waste.
"The new Minister of Environment and Forestry is not enough to just continue the old policy with a new face," he explained.
He believes that decisive and corrective steps are needed, strengthening environmental instruments, evaluating and revoking policies that legalize environmental damage, and ensuring protection for environmental defenders and affected communities.
Furthermore, Boy said, the most urgent thing for the new minister is to reject the revision of Law 32 of 2009 concerning the Protection and Management of the Environment. Then, immediately propose the Climate Justice Bill, not just a bill that regulates climate change management.
"While preparing the Climate Justice Law, the Minister of Environment can also formulate mitigation and adaptation policies for the climate crisis that truly benefit vulnerable communities, not just a technocratic approach that does not touch the root of the climate crisis," he said.
In addition, continued Boy, the government must immediately formulate a policy on waste management from the source, strengthen the responsibility of manufacturers as regulated in Law 18 of 2008 on Waste Management and cancel the plan to process waste into electricity (PSEL) and other false solutions.
"Finally, the Minister of Environment must ensure the protection of upstream areas, water sources and food, as well as stopping the granting of environmental permits for massive changes in forest functions and allocations, which actually deepen disasters and crises," he added.
As for President Prabowo Subianto, he officially appointed Jumhur Hidayat as Minister of Environment as well as Head of the Environment Control Agency in the cabinet reshuffle, Monday, April 27, 2026. Jumhur replaced Hanif Faisol Nurofiq who is now appointed as Deputy Coordinating Minister for Food.
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