Environment minister prefers troubled pulp firm to operate
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.