'Dust shower' disturbs Pulo Gadung residents<\/p>\n
Zakki Hakim, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Almost every day, about 150 families in Kampung Sawah, Rawa
\nTerate, East Jakarta, inhale black smoke generated by a steel
\nprocessing factory that looms over the houses.<\/p>\n
Kampung Sawah is only separated by a shallow three-meter-wide
\nriver from PT Jakarta Cakratunggal Steel Mills, which produces
\nsteel for construction purposes.<\/p>\n
\"Every morning, the factory belches out white smoke and every
\nevening, it billows out black smoke for hours. We call it a dust
\nshower,\" Awaluddin, a Kampung Sawah neighborhood chief unit, said
\nlast week.<\/p>\n
He said that every day, he and his wife had to clean a one-
\ncentimeter-thick layer of dust deposited by the shower of dust.<\/p>\n
Seen from afar, Kampung Sawah looks like it is being fumigated
\nby the factory, which cloaks the area with suffocating smoke,
\nwhile dozens of children played cheerfully outdoors.<\/p>\n
\"Maybe we are quite used to the smoke, but lately it's been
\ngetting worse,\" said Awaluddin, who has lived there since 1984.<\/p>\n
Most of the residents have lived there more than 10 years.
\nTheir occupations vary from factory workers to motorcycle taxi
\n(ojek) drivers and to farmers, who grow rice on about a one-
\nhectare plot of land in front of the houses.<\/p>\n
He added that many residents had respiratory problems,
\nincluding his five-year-old daughter, Amelia.<\/p>\n
Amelia was two when she began to have trouble breathing, and
\nAwaluddin took her to Persahabatan Hospital in Rawamangun, East
\nJakarta, for treatment. Luckily, these days she no longer has
\nproblems breathing, but Awaluddin does not really know what
\ncaused her illness, even today.<\/p>\n
The river is also severely polluted, and it shines black with
\noil.<\/p>\n
The farmers who live in Kampung Sawah use the river water to
\nirrigate their rice fields, the harvests from which are sold in
\nKarawang, West Java.<\/p>\n
Because the river is so polluted, the residents use well water
\nfor washing and bathing -- they have dug a well of about 12
\nmeters in depth, and pump it up using an electric pump.<\/p>\n
However, Awaluddin said that the ground water was also
\nunhealthy.<\/p>\n
\"We can smell the iron and rust in the water, and if we let
\nthe water stand for an hour, it will turn yellowish brown,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, the residents still use it for washing, although
\nthey do realize that the water turns their clothes yellow, and at
\ntimes damages their clothes.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, Awaluddin and his neighbors are clueless as to
\nwhat the water could do to their health, as they use it to bathe,
\nbrush their teeth and gargle.<\/p>\n
As for drinking water, the residents buy water directly from
\ncity water company PAM Jaya, which delivers water in trucks and
\nstores it in two reservoirs in the area.<\/p>\n
Most residents blamed the smoke for their respiratory
\nproblems, but they have no proof that their illnesses were caused
\nby the pollution.<\/p>\n
\"It would be good if our neighborhood could be checked once in
\na while to see whether or not it is still healthy to live here,\"
\nsaid Awaluddin, unaware that an air pollution inspection can cost
\nup to Rp 2 million.<\/p>\n
He said that maybe the right thing to do was to wait for the
\nauthorities to come down and inspect the pollution levels.<\/p>\n
Officials at PT Jakarta Cakratunggal, the steel mill which the
\nresidents allege causes the pollution, could not be reached for
\ncomment.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/dust-shower-disturbs-pulo-gadung-residents-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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