JABAR EKSPRES – The Indonesian Traditional Fishermen’s Union (KNTI) assesses that the new regulation related to the management of sedimentation results in the sea, namely Government Regulation (PP) No. 26/2023 concerning Management of Sedimentation Results in the Sea is an effort to commercialize the sea.
“This regulation actually hides the main orientation of marine commercialization behind the guise of preserving the marine and coastal environment through the management of sedimentation products,” said KNTI Chairman, Dani Setiawan, in a statement in Jakarta, Wednesday (5/31).
Dani revealed that the regulation confirms that the government has shifted the state’s responsibility in fulfilling the human rights of every Indonesian citizen to a good and healthy environment, especially in marine and coastal areas as mandated by the 1945 Constitution Article 28H paragraph (1) and Law No. 32/2009 on Environmental Protection and Management, to the responsibility of the private sector or business actors.
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The regulation, he continued, is also considered worse than Presidential Decree No. 33/2002 concerning Control and Supervision of Sea Sand Business made by the Fifth President of the Republic of Indonesia Megawati Soekarno Puteri to control the negative impacts of sea sand utilization on the environment, fishermen, and fish farmers.
In addition, PP No. 26/2023 is also a step backwards in preserving coastal and marine ecosystems by re-opening business licenses for sea sand mining for commercial purposes and even for export.
The legal regulatory regime is considered deliberately intended to revise the Decree of the Minister of Industry and Trade No. 117/MPP/Kep/2/2003 on the Temporary Suspension of Sea Sand Exports, a regulation issued eight months after KEPPRES No. 33/2002.
“In the past, the export of sea sand was a lucrative business, but it has also cost the country millions of dollars due to illegal exports of sea sand. Sea sand mining has become uncontrollable and damages the marine and coastal environment, threatens the lives of fishermen, and benefits other countries,” added Dani.