City Council pulls plug on polluting laundry plants<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The City Council is urging authorities to close down dozens of
\ngarment processing plants that launder jeans in the Sukabumi
\nSelatan subdistrict of West Jakarta, due to the pollution they
\ncause to nearby rivers and streams.<\/p>\n
Mukhayar, the City Council's vice chairman for Commission D on
\ndevelopment issues, said that most of the 50 or so laundry plants
\nin the area held home industry licenses.<\/p>\n
Residents in the vicinity have protested against the plants
\nfor allegedly dumping their toxic wastes directly into nearby
\nwaterways.<\/p>\n
"The best solution to this problem is to return the area to
\nits original function and close down businesses that do not have
\npermits," Mukhayar told The Jakarta Post on Monday.<\/p>\n
The Sukabumi Selatan sub-district, including the site where
\nthe laundry plants are located, has been designated as a
\nresidential area.<\/p>\n
"We will be taking action soon to close down the unlicensed
\nlaundries. And if necessary, we will process these matters as
\ncriminal cases," Mukhayar threatened.<\/p>\n
"If they (the laundries) do not cooperate, then the next step
\nwill be to call in related institutions and clear them out of
\nthere. Repressive action has to be taken to prevent the impact of
\npollution, such as happened in Buyat, from happening in Jakarta,"
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
Head of Sukabumi Selatan subdistrict Taufik Chandra said that
\nsome home industry garment producers had purchased adjacent lots
\nover the years, constructed workshops and installed large
\nmachines.<\/p>\n
"Usually the owners have between 5 and 8 laundry machines,"
\nsaid Taufik, adding that none of the owners have permits.<\/p>\n
Workers, however, are worried about their jobs if authorities
\ndecide to close down the plants.<\/p>\n
"There are more than 50 laundry plants in this area. If they
\nclose these businesses, where will we work?" asked Hendra, 21, an
\nemployee of Haji Bakri's garment processing plant in Community
\nUnit 4. "Up to five thousand people could lose their jobs."<\/p>\n
He explained that each laundry worker earned between Rp 20,000
\nand Rp 50,000 per day, depending on the size of consignments sent
\nin by garment factories.<\/p>\n
Natri, 17, said she may as well go back to her village in
\nCentral Java if the plants were closed down.<\/p>\n
The garment processing plants use a number of harsh chemicals
\nto cause jeans to fade in order to satisfy the fashion dictates
\nof the market.<\/p>\n
Waste from these jeans laundries contains a cocktail of
\ndifferent chemicals that include fabric dyes, which are extremely
\ntoxic to the environment and which have been classified as
\n"dangerous and deadly" by the head of the West Jakarta Industry
\nand Trade Agency, Purnomo.<\/p>\n
Presently, the Pesangrahan River and the Sekretaris River
\nalong with a number of drainage channels have become badly
\npolluted by waste dumped directly into them from the laundries.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/city-council-pulls-plug-on-polluting-laundry-plants-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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