Five E. Java firms on pollution blacklist: Minister<\/p>\n
ID Nugroho, The Jakarta Post, Surabaya<\/p>\n
Five private companies in East Java have been included on the
\nenvironment office's blacklist of polluters, State Minister of
\nthe Environment Rachmat Nadi Witoelar Kartaadipoetra said on
\nWednesday.<\/p>\n
\"There are 42 companies listed as polluters, but eight of them
\nare blacklisted and I want action taken against them,\" Rachmat
\nsaid in Surabaya on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
According to environment ministry data, of the eight
\nblacklisted companies, three are state-owned companies -- paper
\nproducer PT Kertas Padalarang and sugar factory Jati Tujuh, both
\nin West Java; and paper producer PT Kertas Blabat in Central
\nJava.<\/p>\n
The five blacklisted private companies in East Java are PT
\nSurabaya Industri Estate Rungkut (SIER) in Surabaya; PT Pasuruan
\nIndustri Estate Rembang (PIER) in Pasuruan; PT Hanil Jaya Metal
\nBaja in Sidoardjo; PT Ispatindo in Sidoarjo; and PT Jatim Taman
\nSteel in Sidoardjo.<\/p>\n
Rachmat said the state minister's office has sent letters to
\nState Minister of State Enterprises Sugiharto and governors
\nacross the country to take action against polluters.<\/p>\n
\"If they (the state-owned companies) ignore it, the companies'
\ndirectors will be replaced,\" he insisted.<\/p>\n
For the five private companies in East Java, he urged strict
\nsanctions to be imposed on them by the East Java provincial
\nadministration.<\/p>\n
\"The provincial administration, which gave them operational
\npermits, could revoke these permits if they (the companies) keep
\npolluting the environment,\" said Gempur Adnan, deputy minister of
\nthe environment.<\/p>\n
Head of PT SIER and PT PIER's general affairs division, Wiji
\nSudarmi, denied the minister's statement.<\/p>\n
\"We disagree with the accusation. In fact, our companies are
\nregularly cited as being models of good waste management...,\" she
\ntold The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
She said that when visiting representatives from foreign
\ncompanies came to Surabaya, they would ask to visit PT SIER and
\nPT PIER to learn of the companies' waste management processes.<\/p>\n
\"How can companies that are regularly cited as role models
\nbecome polluters?\" she asked.<\/p>\n
Representatives from the other companies were not available
\nfor comment.<\/p>\n
Rachmat said his office regularly found problems in taking
\naction against polluters.<\/p>\n
\"When the state minister of environment wants to take strict
\naction, other offices do not even move... it's hard,\" he said.<\/p>\n
His office, he said, had proposed that the President formulate
\nbetter regulations to ensure the office's position. \"If such
\nregulation is there, we can exert much pressure,\" Rachmat said.<\/p>\n
He cited the cases of toxic waste being dumped in the country
\nas an example. Such waste, he added, could only be treated at the
\nCileungsi dumping site in Bogor, West Java. But limited space and
\nfacilities made it impossible for the dumping site to treat all
\ntoxic waste from across the country.<\/p>\n
\"The state minister of environment can't directly order the
\nexpansion of Cileungsi dumping site, or the building of similar
\nsites in other provinces,\" Rachmat said.<\/p>\n
However, he added, his office has worked together with Bank
\nIndonesia so that proven polluters of the environment are not
\nprovided with loans.<\/p>\n
\"We've handed the polluters' data to the bank, and the bank
\ndistributes it to its branches across the country. So if any of
\nthese companies ask for loan, it won't be approved by the bank,\"
\nhe said.<\/p>",
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