EIA : FIG LEAF OR FRAMEWORK? : A CRITICAL ASSESSMENT OF EIA IN SOUTHEAST ASIA

Abstract

This dissertation seeks to provide a critical assessment of the effectiveness of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) in working towards environmental protection in Southeast Asia. Critical assessment would be based largely on the evaluation of outcomes of a case study in Indonesia and four other case studies concerning the EIA implementation in Thailand, The Philippines and Malaysia. Based on the evaluation of the various case studies, this dissertation discusses several critical underlying problems arising out of an ineffective implementation of EIA in Southeast Asia. The three main underlying problems that point to an ineffective implementation of EIA are narrow definition of development, incorrect conceptualisation of an EIA framework and the lack of emphasis on human dimension in development. In view of the three underlying problems, the dissertation then outlines several guidelines related to environmental management in the context of Southeast Asia. The proposed guidelines not only seek to provide rectification to the underlying problems, they also help to shed light on what needs to be done to direct environmental management in Southeast Asia. In addition, a Community-Based Environmental (CBE) Framework is proposed to address the ineffectiveness of EIA and environmental management in Southeast Asia. In the concluding portion, the dissertation focuses on an evaluation based on the research aims and objectives so as to provide a review of what the dissertation has achieved. Lastly, it concludes by arguing that the EIA framework is ineffective in the context of Southeast Asia. More significantly, EIA, as an environmental management tool, can be conceptualised as a fig leaf rather than an environmental management framework in working towards environmental protection in Southeast Asia.