Commission XII: Suspected Waste Data Manipulation Should Be Reported to Police
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Deputy Chairman of House Commission XII of the Indonesian DPR, Bambang Haryadi, has asked the Ministry of Environment/Environmental Control Agency (KLH/BPLH) to report the suspected manipulation of wastewater quality test results to the police.
“We want this processed, reported to the National Police, and thoroughly investigated. Put it in the conclusions,” said Bambang during a hearing between the Environment Working Committee of DPR Commission XII and KLH/BPLH at the parliamentary complex in Jakarta in the early hours of Tuesday.
The request came after Deputy for Environmental Law Enforcement at KLH/BPLH, Rizal Irawan, presented the results of field verification regarding the operations of Jababeka Industrial Estate Phase II.
Rizal said his team found that a discharge pipe owned by PT Jababeka Tbk, which is 36 years old, had not received routine maintenance for three years since 2023.
According to him, this condition did not comply with internal standard operating procedures (SOP) requiring periodic maintenance every month at vulnerable points, including control manholes.
“The implication is that a 36-year-old pipe without maintenance at vulnerable points and connection manholes will increase the risk of structural failure and the potential for leaks or repeated pollution,” said Rizal.
In addition, KLH/BPLH found indications of irregularities in changes to laboratory test results conducted by PT Media Lab on Jababeka’s wastewater.
According to Rizal, the initial report recorded a Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) of 810 milligrams per litre (mg/L), while the quality standard is a maximum of 100 mg/L.
Meanwhile, the Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) in the initial report was recorded at 289 mg/L, while the quality standard is a maximum of 20 mg/L.
However, roughly a week later, PT Media Lab issued a revision letter changing the COD test result to 63 mg/L and the BOD to 19 mg/L, bringing both below the quality standards.
“We have carried out field verification for years, and there has never been a case of a revision issued within a gap of about a week. There is an indication that it was done so everything falls below the quality standards,” said Rizal.
In response to these findings, Bambang suspected that the change in laboratory test results was an attempt to make the company appear to comply with quality standards.
He asked KLH/BPLH to follow up on the suspicion and report it to the police for investigation.
“If even the Deputy did not believe it, let alone the DPR? We want this processed, reported to the National Police, and thoroughly investigated,” said Bambang.
According to him, the suspected alteration of laboratory results is a serious matter because it could undermine the credibility of environmental monitoring and law enforcement.