City officials let off gas over fuel pump woes
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
A meeting on Tuesday to address complaints from residents over environmental problems created by three gas stations in the city degenerated into a forum for officials from different state agencies to sling mud at each other.
The meeting was attended by officials from the city Environmental Management Agency (BPLHD)'s environmental impact analysis division, the West Jakarta municipality and state oil and gas firm Pertamina.
It was supposed to find a solution to the environmental problems caused by the three gas stations -- one on Jl. Tomang Raya, West Jakarta, and the other two on Jl. Sisingamangaraja in the vicinity of Taman Mataram, South Jakarta.
Also present were the protesting residents and representatives from the gas stations.
However, the officials denied all responsibility for the problems experienced by residents resulting from the gas station on Jl. Tomang Raya.
"We need to know when the fuel station was constructed, and whether it met the environmental impact analysis requirements," said Ridwan Panjaitan, who heads the BPLHD's environmental impact analysis division.
Local residents had complained to Ridwan's office over traffic jams on Jl. Tomang Raya, and blamed them on the gas station located there.
Ridwan also questioned whether the Tomang gas station management had complied with the environmental impact analysis required under city regulations.
Curiously, however, the owner of the Tomang gas station, Didit Salmon, said it had opened six months ago after she obtained a permit from a joint team consisting of the representatives of several city agencies, including the BPLHD.
An official from Pertamina, Sukanda, blasted the administration's lack of coordination in the issuance of new permits for gas stations.
"The city administration should not issue a new permit unless the gas station owner fulfills his obligations as required by the environmental impact analysis," he said.
Also curious, for despite the fact that it is Pertamina that supplies fuel to the gas station and is supposed to know all the technical details concerning it, the state oil and gas company failed to ascertain whether or not the station was equipped to monitor leakage from its fuel storage tanks.
"We have not yet visited the station in question. Can you tell us how many sumps you have constructed to monitor leaks from your fuel storage tanks?" another Pertamina official asked Didit during the meeting.
Not to outdone, an official from the West Jakarta municipality also denied any responsibility for the problems resulting from the operation of the gas station.
"We have not received any reports on the operation of the gas station in question. That's why we can't make any recommendations to its management regarding possible environmental problems," said the official.
Regarding similar environmental problems blamed on the two gas stations at Taman Mataram, the meeting did not make much headway as the owners failed to show up, sending their employees instead.
The two stations have been accused of polluting ground water in surrounding areas through leakage from their fuel storage tanks.
It is a common belief among Jakartans that the authorities ignore environmental issues when issuing operating permits for gas stations.
The BPLHD has reported that some 226 out of the 241 gas stations across the city fail to meet the requirements set in their environmental impact analyses.
At least 32 of these fuel stations operate in what should be green spaces reserved for serving as the capital's lungs and water catchment areas.
However, no legal action has ever been taken against the owners of the gas stations, or the officials who failed to abide by the regulations when issuing permits.
It is widely believed that the administration is reluctant to take firm action against them as many generals and senior state officials or their relatives.