Waste to be sent back to the Netherlands<\/p>\n
Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The government will soon return 20 containers of hazardous waste
\nto the Netherlands that are now in storage in the international
\ncontainer terminal at Tanjung Priok port in North Jakarta.<\/p>\n
State Minister for the Environment Rachmat Witoelar said on
\nMonday that the Netherlands government had expressed its
\nreadiness to take back the hazardous waste, which had been sent
\nfrom Amsterdam last month.<\/p>\n
\"In principle, the Netherlands is ready to accept the waste.
\nWe are now preparing a technical mechanism on how to return the
\nwaste there,\" Witoelar told the press conference.<\/p>\n
At least 20 containers of hazardous domestic waste have been
\nstored in the Tanjung Priok container terminal since late last
\nmonth as no one had claimed them.<\/p>\n
Hermin Rosita, an assistant to the State Minister for the
\nEnvironment, said that the importer of the waste had used a false
\naddress in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
\"When we checked the address of the importer in Kemang, South
\nJakarta, it turned out to be a cafe,\" said Hermin.<\/p>\n
She could not say when the waste would be sent back to the
\nNetherlands, but said that her office would coordinate with other
\nagencies -- the port management, customs office, and water
\npolice.<\/p>\n
According to Witoelar, the government would continue to pay
\nserious attention to waste trafficking, which he said involved
\ninternational crime syndicates in the same was as people and drug
\ntrafficking did.<\/p>\n
\"We will not tolerate hazardous waste being sent here from
\nforeign countries,\" he said, adding that his office had managed
\nto persuade Singapore to accept 60 bags of hazardous waste sent
\nto Galang island, Riau province, last year.<\/p>\n
He said that Singapore agreed to accept the waste during talks
\nbetween Singapore and Indonesia in the secretariat of the Basel
\nConvention on May 10 and May 11<\/p>\n
Both Indonesia and Singapore are signatories to the Basel
\nConvention, which is intended to resolve disputes on waste
\nshipments.<\/p>\n
In the joint press statement issued after the negotiation,
\nSingapore did not recognize that the material on Galang island as
\nhazardous waste, but said that it was ready to accept it.<\/p>\n
According to Hermin, the waste would be sent to Singapore on
\nWednesday.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/waste-to-be-sent-back-to-the-netherlands-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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