Govt to give tax relief to environmentally friendly companies

Antara News, Saturday, December 18, 2010

Yogyakarta (ANTARA News) - The Environment Ministry and the Directorate General of Taxation are planning to provide tax relief to companies using environmentally friendly technology.

"We plan to provide tax relief to companies belonging to the `green` category," Environment Minister Gusti Muhammad Hatta said here on Saturday.

Besides tax relief, the companies would also have easy access to credits from Bank Indonesia (the central bank/BI) after they had passed an environmental standard test, he said.

"Meanwhile, companies put under the `black" category for the second consecutive time will be brought to justice and companies put under the "red" category will be denied access to credits," he said.

The sanctions were expected to have a deterrent effect on companies which contribute to environmental destruction, he said.

"We are also making approaches to the Supreme Court to impose severe punishment on companies proven guilty of destroying the environment," he said.

Most companies proven guilty of heavily polluting the environment had so far received light punishment thanks to alleged legal mafia involved in the court proceedings, he said.

"President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono himself has instructed the anti-legal mafia task force to investigate the allegation," he said.

Under Law No.32 of 2009 on Environmental Protection and Management, civil investigators of the Environment Ministry had the authority to bring `delinquent` companies to justice, he said.