Companies misuse permits

TANGERANG: Dozens of companies have misused permits for farming activities and instead built factories on plots of land along the Cisadane River, said Suparno, the task executive coordinator of the Banten Water Resource Management Center (BPSDA) supervising Cisadane and Cidurian rivers, on Saturday.

The West Java administration issued the permits, which were for farming activities, to the companies when Tangerang regency and municipality was still under its jurisdiction.

"Following an instruction from the Ministry of Resettlement and Regional Infrastructure in 1999 on regional autonomy, the firms were no longer allowed to extend their permits and use the land," he said.

Suparno said he had monitored the Cisadane riverbank starting from Pasar Baru dam and noted that dozens of companies still continued industrial activities.

"The companies' activities can be categorized as illegal," he said.

Supano called on the municipal administration to take firm action against the companies for violating the permits. -- JP