LICENSING POLICY FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF PUBLIC HOUSING IN BUKIT LATERI INDAH AS REVIEWED FROM ENVIRONMENTAL LAW

PUBLIC HOUSING DEVELOPMENT PERMITTING POLICY

ON LATERI HILL INDAH  REVIEWED FROM ENVIRONMENTAL LAW[1]

 

Lucia Ch. O Tahamatta

 

Introduction

Development is fundamentally aimed at improving human quality of life. However, it cannot be denied that human activities within this framework also have negative impacts on human life and the natural environment in which we live. One such impact is environmental damage. Increasing development activities will inevitably lead to increased environmental impacts, especially if such development is carried out without regard for ecological sustainability.

To face the development of the times and the increasingly complex demands of society, the government in this development period always promotes environmentally conscious development as a conscious and planned effort to manage resources wisely, and maintain harmonious relationships between various development activities.

Impact means a change, but this change in the environment is very fundamental and is caused by activities. Of course, this is based on a guideline that is used as a basis for assessing whether an activity plan has a significant impact.

Environmental impact analysis is a study that presents and informs about the impacts that will be caused by an activity on the environment where a settlement will be built for the community. Therefore, it is necessary to consider the planning process, program creation and decision making. Therefore, there needs to be an Environmental Impact Analysis for the activity plan.

According to Article 22 paragraph (1) of Law No. 32 of 2009 concerning Environmental Protection and Management, "Every business and/or activity that has a significant impact on the environment must have an Amdal." ¹ Furthermore, in the explanation of the article, it is emphasized that "... all development efforts and activities have an impact on the environment. The initial planning of a development effort or activity must include an estimate of its significant impact on the environment, in order to consider whether an environmental impact analysis is necessary for the plan.

Based on this assumption, the negative and positive impacts that will arise from the business or activity can be identified in more detail, allowing early action to mitigate the negative impacts and enhance the positive ones. The significance of the impact is determined, among other things, by the number of people who will be affected.

As the population increases and the birth rate in Ambon City increases, more and more urban residents are spreading across various locations, both coastal and mountainous areas. This doesn't mean there aren't problems in the environment where people live, but rather, it creates various problems, particularly environmental ones.

There is a housing development in the mountains by PT Modren Multi Guna (MMG) as a development of Bukit Lateri Indah which has an impact on the environment, namely illegal logging which will cause flooding during the rainy season, and will also have an impact on the life of the ecosystem in this case the development of mangrove forests, marine natural resources have been covered by red soil sedimentation, a number of fishermen who usually go to sea in the bay area have lost their livelihoods and marine biota will become extinct,

The policy to build housing in Bukit Lateri Indah, does it have permits in this case the Environmental Feasibility Test (UKL), Environmental Management Test (UPL) including Environmental Impact Analysis. The rapid growth of the region and the increase in the population of Ambon City, does require the housing development process to be directed to the hills, but that does not mean ignoring the occurrence of environmental damage and must still comply with the Feasibility Test and Environmental Management Test, so the Ambon City Government, specifically the Environmental Impact Control section, must pay close attention to the Regional Spatial Planning (RTRW) which seems to still pay less attention to the ecological side in planning.

 

Position and Function of Amdal Dalam SLicensing istim

In every activity plan, the person in charge of the activity and/or business will always be burdened by a protection instrument called a "Permit" in order to regulate order as a preventive legal instrument. A permit is an authority of a public legal nature. With this authority, the authorities, based on statutory regulations, use permits as a legal means to regulate community behavior. By granting a permit, the authorities introduce the person submitting the request to carry out certain actions that are actually prohibited.

Permits are used by the government as an instrument to influence citizens to follow recommended methods to achieve concrete goals, such as controlling environmental pollution. Therefore, issuing permits incorrectly or carelessly, without taking environmental interests into account, will disrupt the ecological balance, making it difficult to restore.

With the existence of permits, government bodies have created certain rights and obligations for those concerned. These provisions are the conditions that form the basis for government bodies to grant permits. In many cases, permits are associated with conditions that are closely related to the function of permits as one of the government's directive instruments.

The Environmental Impact Analysis (EIA) can be viewed as a future environmental safeguard instrument that needs to be strengthened in the implementation of sustainable development. Developed countries have recognized the importance of the EIA's function and role as a means of preventing environmental pollution.

Thus, Amdal is very necessary as a basis for the decision-making process regarding Environmental Permits.

As one of the important elements of environmental law, Amdal is essentially a procedural effort to carry out environmental prevention which is internalized in the environmental licensing procedures. Amdal is not a stand-alone component, in the totality of its preparation rotation, Amdal does not only have the dimension of "science” only, but also nuanced 'art” which is needed at the environmental licensing decision-making level, activities which are suspected of having a large and important impact on the sustainability of environmental functions.

According to Law Number 32 of 2009 concerning environmental protection and management, Article 36 paragraph (1) states; "Every business and/or activity that is required to have an Amdal or UKL – UPL (Environmental management efforts – Environmental monitoring efforts) must have an environmental permit." According to Article 71 of Government Regulation Number 27 of 2012 concerning Environmental Impact Analysis, it provides clear space regarding the imposition of sanctions on environmental permit holders who violate their obligations as stated in Article 53 of Law Number 32 of 2009 which reads "Every person who pollutes and/or damages the environment is required to carry out mitigation of environmental pollution and/or damage. In general, it can be concluded that the target of the issuance of PP number 27 of 2012 is to protect and manage the environment, while the micro target of the issuance of this regulation is to provide a clear legal basis for the application of environmental permit instruments and provide several improvements to the application of Amdal and UKL – UPL instruments in Indonesia.

The obligation of environmental permit holders is also to comply with the requirements and obligations that will be stated in the environmental protection and management permit (PPLH Permit). PPLH permits are issued at the operational stage while environmental permits are at the planning stage. PPLH permits include; permits for the disposal of liquid waste, permits for the use of wastewater for application to land, permits for the management of hazardous and toxic waste materials and permits for the discharge of wastewater into the sea.

Government Regulation No. 27 of 2012 replaces Government Regulation No. 27 of 1999 concerning Environmental Impact Analysis (EIA), adding various regulations and provisions regarding environmental permits. There are two principles in the drafting of the Environmental Permit Regulation:

1. Simpler and does not create new bureaucratic and implementative processes.

2. A faster AMDAL assessment process, taking 125 days from 180. This will result in resource efficiencies in terms of time, cost, and effort, without compromising quality. This step forward is to stipulate that the total AMDAL assessment period from the receipt of the AMDAL document in administratively complete status is approximately 125 working days, excluding the time required for document revisions.5[2]

Another important aspect of this Government Regulation is the increased scope for community involvement, particularly for affected communities, in making decisions regarding the feasibility of a business plan and/or activity. Applications for environmental permits and their issuance must be announced three times during the planning stage. This allows the community to actively participate and provide input on every business plan and/or activity in their area.

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Ambon City Government's Efforts to Control Environmental Destruction

1. Prevention efforts

Improved welfare through industrial and technological progress can be realized as expected, but the implementation of development and technological progress should not actually give rise to new problems in the form of environmental pollution that is detrimental to humans.

Because environmental pollution has such widespread and detrimental impacts on humans, efforts must be made to reduce it, or perhaps eliminate it altogether. There are two ways to reduce and address pollution:

a. Non-technical mitigation

In an effort to reduce and overcome environmental pollution, the term non-technical prevention is known, namely an effort to reduce and overcome environmental pollution by creating laws and regulations that can plan, regulate and supervise all kinds of industrial and technological activities in such a way that environmental pollution does not occur.

The intended statutory regulations should be able to provide a clear description of the activities that will be carried out in a place, namely;

· Presentation of environmental information

· Environmental impact analysis

· Planning of development and industrial activity areas

· Regulation and supervision of activities

· Instill disciplined behavior

b. Technical countermeasures

Based on the Environmental Impact Analysis study, it can be assumed that environmental pollution may occur, so the next step is to think about technical mitigation which depends on the following factors:

· Prioritize environmental safety

· Technically and economically justifiable.

· Based on the above factors, several methods of technical management have been obtained, including;

· Change the process;

· Replacing energy sources;

· Adding tools

From the results that can be concluded by the author that the prevention efforts carried out by the City Government, is merely the provision of Amdal, if the Amdal is studied properly then it is certain that land construction must be considered, the regional spatial plan must be considered, tree felling must be sorted, so it is necessary to make retaining walls on the hill slopes. As a result of the eviction of land in the Bukit Lateri area, the check dam belonging to the Maluku River Basin Center and North Maluku which is around the location was damaged. Where the check dam, which functions as a flood barrier, has now been covered in red soil.

Preventive efforts undertaken to prevent environmental damage on Lateri Hill are;

· Socialization and taking firm action against business entities or activity implementers to anticipate environmental damage;

· Carry out continuous supervision of activities that disturb the environment, construction of embankments;

· Implementing control of pollution and/or environmental damage is carried out in the context of preserving environmental functions, including mitigation and restoration.

· Control of environmental pollution and/or damage is carried out by regional governments and those responsible for businesses and/or activities in accordance with their respective authorities, roles and responsibilities.

        

2. Rehabilitation efforts due to environmental damage

From the results it can be explained that rehabilitation efforts due to environmental damage on Lateri hill are not only preventive efforts such as; implementing supervision of all activities, PT Modern Multi Guna immediately rehabilitates the business location, and directs the Developer to organize the land properly in accordance with the Amdal.

The rehabilitation efforts that must be carried out by PT Modern Multi Guna are to immediately try to restore the surrounding area so that it does not become polluted. The Environmental Impact Control Agency needs to pay close attention to Regional Spatial Planning, which seems to still pay less attention to the ecological side in planning, and it is necessary to give firm sanctions to PT Modern Multi Guna.

Housing development is a major source of environmental damage, carried out without a focus on UKL-UPL (Environmental Management and Environmental Management Plans), thus accelerating disasters and environmental degradation. This is evident in the loss of forests, which support life, for the sake of development in the region. The Ambon City Government must thoroughly assess this housing development, not simply pursue increased Regional Original Income (PAD) while leaving the people vulnerable.

According to Government Regulation 27 of 2012 concerning Environmental Permits, specifically Articles 33 and 41 regulate two instruments for environmental protection and management: an environmental assessment instrument (in the form of an Amdal and UKL-UPL), and an environmental permit instrument. The integration of the substance of the Amdal and environmental permits in this Government Regulation is carried out by considering that the Amdal/UKL-UPL and environmental permits are a single entity. Therefore, this Government Regulation has great power to protect the environment. This Government Regulation places environmental feasibility as the basis for the environment so that it has clear and firm sanctions.

The role of the Ambon City Government and the control of environmental impacts must be correct, honest, and responsible in handling environmental pollution problems on Lateri Hill by paying attention to the applicable laws and regulations and there is a joint development concept that is designed in a participatory manner that is collaborated with appropriate and environmentally friendly technological touches and is in accordance with the character of the region.

           

Closing Event

            Based on the matters described above, the author concludes that permits in the form of Amdal/UKL/UPL have a very strategic function in protecting the environment, the normative legal basis that regulates permits for residential development on hillside is very clear and firm, it remains to be seen how the implementing officials are responsible for these activities. If there is misuse of Amdal/UKL/UPL, several parties must be involved.

            The efforts of the Ambon City government to control environmental damage need to be carried out honestly, correctly and responsibly so that efforts towards being environmentally friendly can be felt by the community around the environmental damage.

 

 

Register Reading

 

EPA, Principles of Environmental Impact Assessment, Washington Dc 1998,

Koesnadi Harjasoemanri, Law Tata Lenvironment, Seventh Edition Gaja Mada University Press, 2002

David Silalahi, Environmental Impact Analysis in the Indonesian Environmental Legal System, Mandar Maju Bandung 1995;   

Siti Sundari Rangkuti, Environmental Law  dan National Environmental Policy, Surabaya Airlangga University Press 2000;

Munadjat Danusaputro, Environmental Law Book V, Sectoral Volume 4 in the Analysis System Denvironmental impact, Bima Cipta Bandung 1992;

Joko Subagyo, Environmental Law Problems and Their Solutions, PT Rineka Cipta Cetalan ke tiga 2002;

Ten Berge , Introduction to Licensing Law, 2005

Law No. 32 of 2009 concerning Environmental Protection and Management
http://dwisadhewo25.blogspot.com/2012/11/peraturan government regarding AMDAL