Environmental rules must be obeyed: Official<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): An official and a councilor said that city
\nofficers should step up supervision over industries' compliance
\nto environmental rules.<\/p>\n
Although factories may be operating in industrial areas, this
\ndoes not give the industries the right to pollute the
\nenvironment, they said in separate interviews yesterday.<\/p>\n
\"Coordination needs to be improved between the industrial
\noffices, the city agency in charge of development control, the
\noffice of urban environmental research and others,\" Aboejoewono,
\nthe head of the city's environmental office said.<\/p>\n
All related offices, such as the city office of the Ministry
\nof Industry and Trade, should review industrial compliance to
\nenvironmental requirements, he said.<\/p>\n
He and Bandjar Marpaung, who chairs Commission D for
\ndevelopment affairs, were responding to problems raised by
\nindustries in dense residential areas.<\/p>\n
A briefcase manufacturing factory in Kapuk, Cengkareng in West
\nJakarta suffered broken windows and a damaged car during a riot
\nlast Thursday. Residents initially identified strong smells as
\nthe fumes that allegedly caused the death of a woman living
\nbehind the factory last month.<\/p>\n
Local residents and the subdistrict head later discovered a
\nnearby plastic factory as the actual source of the smell.<\/p>\n
Police have not revealed their findings on the incident
\ninvolving the briefcase factory, PT Continental Panji Pratama.<\/p>\n
Aboejoewono said he was \"not sure\" whether all factory owners
\nunderstand environmental requirements, such as installing waste
\nwater treatment facilities before flowing their waste into
\nrivers.<\/p>\n
Councilor Bandjar Marpaung, who chairs Commission D for
\ndevelopment, said residential buildings in Kapuk are likely
\nwithout permits.<\/p>\n
Similar to Pulogadung in East Jakarta and Marunda in North
\nJakarta, Kapuk in Cengkareng has been designated as an industrial
\nand warehouse area in the city's 1985-2005 spatial plans.<\/p>\n
\"These sites allow light industries in Jakarta, which means
\ntheir waste is not harmful,\" Bandjar said.<\/p>\n
Industries known to produce toxic waste must move to
\nindustrial sites outside the city such as Cikarang, east of here.<\/p>\n
However, the sites for light industries were not free of
\nresidents at the time they were designated as industrial areas,
\nBandjar said.<\/p>\n
\"As the municipality slowly tries to put the spatial plans in
\norder, there will be many problems,\" Bandjar said. This is
\nbecause residents in industrial sites, especially the poor,
\ncannot be expected to immediately move out, he added.<\/p>\n
The least that can be done now is constant supervision by
\nauthorities, including subdistrict heads, of what processes and
\nsubstances are involved in factories, to prevent harm to
\nresidents and the environment.<\/p>\n
\"Local authorities must be familiar with the condition of each
\nfactory in their jurisdiction,\" Bandjar said.<\/p>\n
Bandjar also lashed out at the authorities' poor record of
\nsupervision, which has led to residential sites in industrial
\nareas.<\/p>\n
Johan Iskandar, the director of PT Continental, told The
\nJakarta Post Saturday that if the city clearly indicates that
\nKapuk should become a residential area, he would move out.<\/p>\n
He was responding to how he would deal with further problems
\nfrom residents, who settled in the area long after the plant
\nstarted operating in the early 1970s. (anr)<\/p>",
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