Ministry promises to issue environmental license within 42 days
Thursday, May 26 2016 - 10:05 AM WIB
The Ministry of Forestry and Environment promises to issue environmental licenses for oil and gas contractors much more quickly provided that the contractors have a sold and reliable team and meet the requirements.
In the past, contractors may wait for years to get environmental license from the ministry. Now, Director General of Forestry Spatial Planning and Environmental Management San Afri Awang said the contractors can receive their licenses within 42 days. This is expected to drive oil and gas explorations.
?They all need to have received environmental license prior to construction. We shall issue the Environmental Impact Assessment (Amdal) license. Based on my experience, the process is quick. It becomes protracted due the problems at the applicants. If they are solid, I guarantee they will get their license within 42 days, as fast as the Jakarta-Bandung train,? he said.
If the oil and gas contractors want to quickly receive the environmental license, they should first prepare everything before filing application. Many contractors have to wait for years for their environmental license because they don?t have solid environmental team. ?Sometimes, they (the teams assigned by the contractors to handle the Amdal process) are not reliable, which is why they have to wait up two years for us to issue the license. If their team is solid and reliable, the process will be fast,? he said.
Besides, he said, the ministry has established a one-door integrated service (PTSP) for the issuance of forest area utilization permit. The waiting time for the permit is one month at maximum.
?We already have a PTSP for forest area utilization permit, which can issue the permit in 30 days. But, we?ll keep monitoring what happen at the primary forests (to prevent from being destroyed) by irresponsible industry players,? he said.
Editing by Johannes Simbolon