Effective inspection of polluting facilities remains a continuing challenge in Indonesia.  Despite issuance of a national decree and associated guidelines on industrial monitoring and inspection, overall compliance is low.  According to the Indonesia Ministry of Environment, compliance of manufacturing sector alone has been decreasing by 2 percent each year since 2003.  Causes for ineffective environmental inspection are: absence of an integrated licensing system, weak interagency coordination, lack of standardized procedures and practices, limited technical skills of inspectors and inadequate capacity to manage the information.

Initiative
To strengthening inspection capacity, AECEN established a twinning partnership between the Indonesia Ministry of Environment (MOE) and the Singapore National Environment Agency (NEA).  Through direct inter-agency collaboration and consultation, MOE and NEA engaged in gap analysis, policy formulation and technical training activities on inspection and investigation with assistance from the Indonesian Center for Environmental Law and the Singapore Environment Institute.

Results
As a result of the twinning partnership, Indonesia incorporated new inspection procedures and requirements based on Singapore practice into amendments to the Environmental Management Act of 2009.  Key elements included increased authority for inspectors, higher penalties for non-compliance, improvements in inspection planning, and criminal liability for government officials who fail to perform required duties.  In addition, MOE will develop detailed guidelines for inspection and enhancing the capacity of inspectors from local government units.