Sari P. Setiogi, Jakarta – The new government has a lot of work to do and non-governmental organizations are closely watching how Cabinet members will address the myriad problems facing the country.

Friends of Earth Indonesia campaigner P. Raja Siregar told The Jakarta Post here on Friday there were two immediate problems new Minister of the Environment Rachmat Witoelar had to address in his first 100 days.

"The Buyat [Bay] case is not yet resolved and should be followed up by the new minister. We should remember that the government's joint team has not yet announced its official report to the public," he said.

The old government had set up a joint team involving members of several environmental NGOs to investigate alleged contamination in Buyat Bay in Minahasa, North Sulawesi, where American-run company PT Newmont Minahasa Raya had disposed of its tailings.

Former minister for the environment Nabiel Makarim issued a report clearing Newmont of the contamination charge. The report, however, has not been approved by the other team members.

Another environmental issue the ministry had to address was the controversial government regulation in lieu of a law allowing mining companies to resume operations in protected forests. "We all know [the regulation] was completely wrong and the new minister should do his best to revoke it," Raja said.

Raja questioned the appointment of Rachmat as minister. Rachmat was a member of the Golkar Party, which had endorsed the regulation. "We will have to wait and see," he said.

However, Conservation International Indonesia executive director Jatna Supriatna told the Post he was optimistic about Rachmat's appointment. "Rachmat has a close relationship with the President, which might be good in that he [Rachmat] would be listened to," Jatna said.

Meanwhile, the Foundation for the Empowerment of Health Consumers head Marius Widjajarta said he hoped the new government would have a serious commitment to health issues. "The new government should draw up regulations on medical services and hospital standards," Marius said. Without these regulations, malpractice claims against doctors would keep on rising and commercialization of the sector would continue uncontrolled, he said.

The HIV/AIDS Pelita Ilmu Foundation chairman Husein Habsyi wanted the health ministry to undertake more research to find out the actual levels of HIV/AIDS in the country. "We have not yet met or do we know much about the Health Minister [Fadilah Supari], however, we hope her experience in health will ensure she is more realistic about this problem," he said. Fadilah is a lecturer from the University of Indonesia's faculty of medicine and headed the Harapan Kita Hospital's research and technology department.

Regarding education, Vision for the Nation's Children group founder Agus Pambagio, said he did not understand why Bambang Sudibyo, an accountant, had become the new minister of education. "Perhaps ... he can manage the budgeting issues in education, including the 20 percent allocation [supposed to go to] the education sector from the state budget," he said. Bambang served as finance minister in the Cabinet of former president Abdurrahman Wahid from October 1999 to July 2001.