Environmental rules must be obeyed: Official
Environmental rules must be obeyed: Official
JAKARTA (JP): An official and a councilor said that city
officers should step up supervision over industries' compliance
to environmental rules.
Although factories may be operating in industrial areas, this
does not give the industries the right to pollute the
environment, they said in separate interviews yesterday.
"Coordination needs to be improved between the industrial
offices, the city agency in charge of development control, the
office of urban environmental research and others," Aboejoewono,
the head of the city's environmental office said.
All related offices, such as the city office of the Ministry
of Industry and Trade, should review industrial compliance to
environmental requirements, he said.
He and Bandjar Marpaung, who chairs Commission D for
development affairs, were responding to problems raised by
industries in dense residential areas.
A briefcase manufacturing factory in Kapuk, Cengkareng in West
Jakarta suffered broken windows and a damaged car during a riot
last Thursday. Residents initially identified strong smells as
the fumes that allegedly caused the death of a woman living
behind the factory last month.
Local residents and the subdistrict head later discovered a
nearby plastic factory as the actual source of the smell.
Police have not revealed their findings on the incident
involving the briefcase factory, PT Continental Panji Pratama.
Aboejoewono said he was "not sure" whether all factory owners
understand environmental requirements, such as installing waste
water treatment facilities before flowing their waste into
rivers.
Councilor Bandjar Marpaung, who chairs Commission D for
development, said residential buildings in Kapuk are likely
without permits.
Similar to Pulogadung in East Jakarta and Marunda in North
Jakarta, Kapuk in Cengkareng has been designated as an industrial
and warehouse area in the city's 1985-2005 spatial plans.
"These sites allow light industries in Jakarta, which means
their waste is not harmful," Bandjar said.
Industries known to produce toxic waste must move to
industrial sites outside the city such as Cikarang, east of here.
However, the sites for light industries were not free of
residents at the time they were designated as industrial areas,
Bandjar said.
"As the municipality slowly tries to put the spatial plans in
order, there will be many problems," Bandjar said. This is
because residents in industrial sites, especially the poor,
cannot be expected to immediately move out, he added.
The least that can be done now is constant supervision by
authorities, including subdistrict heads, of what processes and
substances are involved in factories, to prevent harm to
residents and the environment.
"Local authorities must be familiar with the condition of each
factory in their jurisdiction," Bandjar said.
Bandjar also lashed out at the authorities' poor record of
supervision, which has led to residential sites in industrial
areas.
Johan Iskandar, the director of PT Continental, told The
Jakarta Post Saturday that if the city clearly indicates that
Kapuk should become a residential area, he would move out.
He was responding to how he would deal with further problems
from residents, who settled in the area long after the plant
started operating in the early 1970s. (anr)