Firms unhappy with bill on dumping

TANGERANG: A draft bylaw that will set out a scale of fees payable for dumping industrial waste in Tangerang regency has met with objections from members of the industrial community.

"If endorsed, the bill will be a burden because such payments will mean an increase in production costs," Herry Rumawatine, chairman of the Tangerang chapter of the Indonesian Business Association (Apindo), said Thursday.

The Tangerang environmental agency had completed a draft of the bylaw, which aims at controlling the disposal of industrial waste.

The amount payable will be determined by the extent to which the waste has been processed before being dumped as well as its volume, meaning that the cleaner the waste, the lower the payment.

Separately, head of the environmental agency Deden Sugandhi said businesspeople were exaggerating their concerns.

"If their waste is safe (for the environment), they won't have high fees to pay, will they? After all, we simply want to protect the environment."

Tangerang regency, which is located to the west of Jakarta, is home to many factories and industrial firms that are large contributors to the administration's revenue. -- JP