Bapedal blasted for going only half way

Bapedal blasted for going only half way

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Network for Forest Conservation
(Skephi) yesterday questioned the government's decision to
announce only some of the names of the worst industrial polluters
in Indonesia.

Skephi chief coordinator S. Indro Tjahjono suspected that
political considerations influenced the way the Agency for the
Environmental Impact Management (Bapedal) announced some, instead
of all, of the names of the worst industrial polluters.

"It is sad to see political considerations interfering with
professional values," Indro told The Jakarta Post. "And it is not
fair to the companies that were named," he added.

Bapedal Chairman Sarwono Kusumaatmadja, who is also the State
Minister of Environmental, announced on Friday the finding of its
study into the waste discharged by more than 200 companies in the
country. The companies were rated in terms of their performance,
gold for best companies with zero pollution, followed by green,
blue, red and black for the worst polluters.

None of the companies surveyed received the gold rating.

Sarwono named all five that were rated black but refrained
from naming all the 115 that were rated red, a category reserved
for companies which, despite taking steps to control its waste
water, failed to even reach the minimum standards of liquid waste
which may be disposed into rivers.

The black rated companies are PT Raja Garuda Mas Panel, a
plywood producer in Riau; PT Tirta Mahakam Plywood Industry in
East Kalimantan; PT Papyrus Sakti Paper Mill, a paper and pulp
producer in West Java; PT Sari Morawa, a paper factory in North
Sumatra; and PT Sico, a paint factory in North Sumatra.

"There is not much difference between red and black. In effect
they both pollute rivers," Indro said.

"We get the impression that Bapedal picked out companies which
are not politically sensitive to name in public," he added.

He said the hard work that went into Bapedal's survey was
spoiled by the "wholly unscientific" way its results was
announced.

"We fear Bapedal's credibility will decline," he said.

Sarwono has earlier said that the government was refraining
from naming all the worst polluters given the fact that
the environmental rating system is still in its infancy and that
public exposure is not yet culturally acceptable in Indonesia.

This is the second time that Bapedal has announced the results
of its rating system. The first time was in June, when it only
announced the five companies rated the best performers.

Indro said that if Bapedal could not name all the worst
polluters, then it should have stuck to naming the five best
performers like it did in June. "If it still felt constrained in
naming all the polluters, it should not have done so."

Skephi conducted its own study of the wastes discharged by 152
companies into 53 rivers in 10 provinces last year. Its finding
showed that paper and steel mills as the most dangerous polluters
because of the high concentration of chlorine and metal in their
waste.

While Bapedal's study measured waste water of a factory,
Skephi's study looked into changes in the color and smell of the
river water, and the living organism of the river, Indro said.

Bapedal's limited findings show that the government can only
measure a small part of the river pollution, Indro said.

"Pollution becomes known only when there are definite victims
and when the public has suffered social and economic losses," he
added. (anr)