Jakarta, Feb 24 (Antara) - As a sprawling country with over 17 thousand islands and about 70 percent of its territory comprising water areas, Indonesia is reportedly ranked second as the world's plastic trash contributor to the sea.
In a bid to clean its sea of the plastic waste, the government has conducted studies to determine best solutions to deal with sea garbage and formulated and launched an action plan. It will organize a workshop to deal with the problem of ocean trash.
Efforts are being made to deal with the issue of sea pollution caused by waste. Plastic garbage has a direct impact on the sustainability of the fisheries sector besides affecting the marine health and environment. Waste poses a threat to the existence of fish, mammals, sea birds, and coral reefs in the world.
The Indonesian government is committed to reducing plastic waste by at least 70 percent by the end of 2025. As of now, about nine million tons of waste is generated every year.
Indonesia produces almost 65 million tons of waste a year, of which about 14 percent or nine million tons is in the form of plastic trash.
For this purpose, the government carried out studies to formulate various steps to be taken to clean the sea of this plastic refuse in the next decade. The studies, which involved 15 cities, were aimed at seeking solutions to the issue of marine plastic waste.
Among these 15 cities were Jakarta, Makassar, Semarang, Surabaya, Medan and Batam. Based on the study, the ministries and government institutions will take action to handle plastic waste at sea.
These ministries and government institutions comprised the Public Works and Public Housing Ministry, the Environment and Forestry Ministry, the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry, the Agency for Assessment and Application of Technology, and the Education and Culture Ministry.
"The Ministry of Education and Culture will be involved as the waste problem is closely related to the mindset of the people," Deputy I for Maritime Sovereignty of the Coordinating Maritime Affairs Ministry, Arif Havas Oegroseno, stated in Jakarta earlier this month (Feb 6).
Havas assured that the government will also cooperate with several countries facing the same problem, such as Denmark, the US, Australia, and the Netherlands. "The US is also facing the same problem, so we can exchange information on ways to solve it," he stated.
Indonesia's Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs, Luhut Binsar Panjaitan, said in order to reduce the plastic waste by 70 percent by the end of 2025, the country has launched a national action plan.
The plan involves tackling marine plastic waste. In cooperation with the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), Indonesia launched a campaign to remove plastic waste in Nusa Dua, Bali, on Thursday (Feb 23).
The national action plan contains concrete strategies and measures to handle plastic waste on land, in coastal areas and in the sea. The Indonesian government will provide funding of up to US$1 billion per year to implement the strategy.
Indonesia, according to Luhut, is more than ready to play an active role in handling marine plastic waste and be at the forefront of the UN's global campaign for cleaning the seas.
After all, Indonesia has been successful in its campaign against fish poachers and armed pirates. The government is now ready to face the challenge of tackling marine plastic debris.
Minister of Environment and Forestry Siti Nurbaya asserted in a written statement that the launch of the campaign reiterated Indonesia's commitment to cleaning the sea.
On Feb 27, the government will also hold a workshop on ocean trash, in which the Indonesian side will conduct a joint evaluation with the representatives of Denmark, South Korea, India and Japan.
The purpose is to learn from international experiences and to incorporate such learning in the steps that the country will take. In addition, sea and beach cleaning exercise will be conducted simultaneously on Feb 28.
The Environment and Forestry Ministry will invite the district heads and mayors of regions that have beaches and estuaries to be part of the sea cleaning initiative.
The global sea cleaning campaign will be attended by the executive director of the United Nations Environment Program, Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs, the Environment and Forestry Minister, the Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, and the governor of Bali.
Moreover, Indonesia has been entrusted with hosting the Ocean Economic Summit 2018. Indonesia and the European Union will hold discussions on marine governance, including its economic aspects, environmental impact on the marine sector, as well as illegal fishing.
Indonesia is set to host the summit, as discussed at the meeting between Minister Siti Nurabya and the European Union (EU) Commissioner for the Environment, Maritime and Fishery, Karmenu Vella.
The minister explained that there were environmentally conscious corporate alliances who also apply circular economic system, namely Packaging and Recycle Alliance for Sustainable Environment (PRAISE).
According to Siti Nurbaya, the circular economy followed in Indonesia involves converting bottled water packages into clothing fibers and other new products.
Such circular economy remains one of the good economy schemes and modules in global trade that preserves the environment.(A014/INE/B003)EDITED BY INE(T.A014/A/BESSR/Bustanuddin) 24-02-2017 22:18:4 |
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