Environment minister prefers troubled pulp firm to operate
Moch. N. Kurniawan and Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Medan
State Minister of the Environment Nabiel Makarim is siding this time with troubled pulp producer PT Toba Pulp Lestari (TPL), and is asking the people of Porsea, North Sumatra, to give the company a chance to prove that it will not pollute the environment.
Makarim said on Wednesday that the people should allow the company to resume operations for three years, and then invite an independent auditor to conduct an environmental audit to see whether the company pollutes the environment.
"Porsea residents and TPL management must sign an agreement to that effect, as it's the only feasible solution so far. If they can't do so, the TPL problem will not be resolved even in ten years," he said.
TPL will run facilities owned previously by PT Into Indorayon Utama, which was closed down. Unlike Indorayon, which then produced rayon and pulp, TPI will produce only pulp.
The proposed three-year period, Makarim said, would provide auditors enough time to monitor the waste output from TPL and assess whether or not the waste produces acid rain, which can destroy rice fields.
The minister also said that Porsea residents could also file a lawsuit against TPL for harming the environment and the people there. However, he warned that the available evidence was insufficient to allow for a court verdict to close down TPL.
As an example, Makarim cited results of his office's assessment of the Asahan River, which showed that the water was not contaminated by the company. Meanwhile, TPL is in possession of the only existing data on acid rain.
"The court will request the plaintiffs to provide evidence of acid rain, poisonous gas emissions and crop failure due to the presence of TPL. Can the plaintiffs do it at present?" he asked.
Should people agree to let TPL reopen, Makarim admonished the people that they should put up with the putrid odor, a pollutant inevitably released by any pulp company in the world.
This pollution could be reduced by implementing appropriate tools, but it could not be eliminated, he said, adding that TPL must provide compensation for the smell.
Martin Sirait, chairman of the Bona Pasogit Forum, a forum of people campaigning against TPL, said activists and local people would consider the minister's proposal as long as there was a serious commitment from the government to guarantee the implementation of the agreement.
"We are open for such a solution. What we want is a people- and environmental-friendly operation. Without it, we'd better shut them down," he said.
However, he said, people in Porsea would not be able to forget the trauma resulting from an increase in diseases and the environmental destruction caused by Indorayon.
Separately, legal experts and academics in North Sumatra signed a petition to reject the government's plan to reopen TPL if they did not consult Porsea residents.
"We urge the government to run a referendum to find out whether people in Porsea accepted the resumption of TPL," Medan Legal Aid Institute Irham Buana told the Post.
Jhon Tafbu Ritonga, vice rector of the University of North Sumatra, also supported calls to hold a referendum on the TPL issue.