Animal quarantine causes pollution

Animal quarantine causes pollution

BEKASI (JP): Thousands of families in the Mekar Wangi subdistrict in Bekasi, some 30 kilometers east of the capital, complain about bed smell coming from the quarantine of imported cows.

The Cibitung District head, Wirya, said yesterday that a letter of complaint was sent to the regency on Nov. 16. But response from the regency has yet to come.

The complainants said the 3.8 hectare quarantine has no waste treatment plant. The quarantine owner, PT Lembu Jantan Perkasa, lets the huge heap of manure dumped in a 700 sq.m. site be unprocessed.

The air pollution affect those living in areas one kilometer away from the quarantine.

There is no information on when the animal quarantine was opened.

District Head Wirya said that the company has also ignored public safety by not putting fences around the manure dumping site. He said that a warning letter had been sent to the quarantine owner. The owner gave no response.

The head of Bekasi animal husbandry office, Glenarto, denied the smell was caused by the cow quarantine. "The market place garbage causes the smell," he said.

The head of the market was unhappy with Glenarto's statement. He said that garbage from the market has been so far handled very properly. (12)