Environmentalists sue paper companies for river pollution<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The Legal Aid Institute (LBH) office in Surabaya
\nhas filed separate lawsuits in the Surabaya district court
\nagainst three pulp and paper companies in the area, accusing them
\nof polluting the Surabaya River.<\/p>\n
LBH is acting on behalf of the Indonesian Forum for the
\nEnvironment (Walhi) in the lawsuits against the three companies,
\nidentified, by Antara, only by the letters PT Mek, PT Sup, and PT
\nSAI.<\/p>\n
Indro Sugianto, the LBH lawyer handling the cases, told
\nreporters that the pollution of the Surabaya river had become
\nworse over the past two decades with no real attempt made, on the
\npart of local manufacturers, to improve the situation.<\/p>\n
Indro said contamination of the river got so bad at one time
\nthat the processing plant of the local drinking water company
\n(PDAM) had to cease operations. \"PDAM customers have also been
\ncomplaining about the quality of their tap water from PDAM.\"<\/p>\n
He said that the current lawsuit against the pulp and paper
\nmanufacturers will be followed by others to be filed by Walhi.<\/p>\n
LBH has found that 41 factories are discharging their waste
\ninto the river, he said. Besides paper and pulp, other riverside
\nindustries include textiles, synthetic chemicals, detergent
\nsoaps, steel, metal finishing, porcelain, ceramics and food
\nprocessing.<\/p>\n
Before filing the lawsuits against the paper manufacturers,
\nLBH collected evidence from PDAM Surabaya, talked to its
\ncustomers, and discussed the issue with local government and the
\npolice, Indro said.<\/p>\n
LBH also has data from laboratory tests on the quality of
\nwater from the river, he said.<\/p>\n
In the lawsuits, Walhi is demanding that the companies undergo
\nenvironmental audits and announce the findings to the public, and
\nbuild a waste processing center which, it says, to be managed by
\nan independent body.<\/p>\n
He said meeting the demands is the least that the companies
\ncan do after years of neglecting their responsibility to look
\nafter the environment. (29)<\/p>",
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