Environmental agency suggests closure of laundry plants
Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Residents of Sukabumi Selatan subdistrict in West Jakarta will likely win the battle against 51 illegal denim processing plants, which have been blamed for polluting the area.
Head of the City Environment Management Body (BPLHD) Kosasih Wirahadikusumah said on Saturday that the closure of the plants still had to be officially endorsed by Governor Sutiyoso.
Sutiyoso previously advised owners of the companies in Sukabumi Selatan to relocate their businesses to other areas like in the industrial zone of Pulo Gadung in East Jakarta.
On Feb. 2, Kosasih gave the City Council a recommendation on the immediate closure of the companies for several reasons.
"A residential area is not the place for such plants, and they are disposing of hazardous substances, which causes serious environmental damage. And the last reason is that those plants have overexploited the groundwater causing water shortages in the area," Kosasih explained.
Kosasih said that each processing plant, which is used to create pre-faded denim products, used at least 90,000 liters of underground water per day, totalling some 4.5 million liters per day for the 51 plants.
According to BPLHD's investigation, for one batch of jeans, 500 liters of water is mixed with some 250-300 milliliters of detergent or 1.5 kilograms chemical substances known as Generator Desize -- HT (liquid blue substance).
For further processes, the companies also use various whiteners, softeners, brighteners and many kinds of dyes, all of which have chemicals in them.
Kosasih said around 90 percent of the water was dumped in the environment as hazardous waste because there were no liquid waste treatment systems.
According to data from BPLHD, the number of illegal companies had grown very fast in the subdistrict -- there were 34 in 2000, 39 in 2002 and 51 in 2005, and have not built waste treatment facilities or paid for the ground water.
A calculation made by BPLHD on monthly operational costs of a legal denim processing plant reveals that a medium-scale one should be spending some Rp 122.62 million (US$13,777) per month -- Rp 16.87 million for waste treatment, Rp 33.75 million for water usage, and the remaining Rp 72 million for the disposal of some 20 tons of sludge.
According to the government agency, only a few garment firms were operating in Sukabumi Selatan subdistrict in the late 1970s. The denim processing companies were set up later to support the garment industry.
Currently, the companies process some 60 percent of all jeans sold in two major markets in the city -- Tanah Abang in Central Jakarta and Cipulir in South Jakarta.