Five companies sued over river pollution

JAKARTA (JP): The North Jakarta District Court is scheduled to begin hearing today a lawsuit filed by a shrimp company in Serang, West Java, against five firms, including the giant PT Indah Kiat Pulp and Paper, over alleged pollution of the Ciujung river.

PT Samudra Farmindo Luas is seeking damages in the amount of Rp 45.15 billion (US$20 million) for financial loss it says it has incurred as a result of the alleged pollution and an as-yet- unspecified amount for the resulting "loss of trust" on the part of consumers and creditor banks.

Samudra, which is represented by noted human rights and corporate lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis and his associates, claims that industrial waste discharged into the Ciujung river by the defendants has caused considerable commercial losses.

The shrimp company relies heavily on the Ciujung river to irrigate its 200 hectares of breeding ponds near Serang. It says that it had previously been able to produce 7,000 kilograms of shrimp per year from each hectare.

The five defendant companies in the lawsuit are PT Indah Kiat Pulp and Paper, PT Onward Paper Utama, PT Cipta Paperia, PT Sekawan Maju Pesat and PT Picon Jaya. The first four manufacture paper, while the fifth produces leather. Indah Kiat, Onward Paper and Cipta Paperia have head offices in Jakarta, while the other two companies are based in Serang.

Samudra is asking that Indah Kiat bear 79.56 percent of any damages awarded by the court.

That proportion is based, the plaintiff says, on the share of toxic waste discharged into the river by Indah Kiat.

The plaintiff brings to court a 1993 study on pollution along 15 kilometers of the Ciujung river conducted by the Center for Fisheries Research and Development, which work under the Agriculture Ministry.

The study found that the Ciujung river was heavily polluted and that Indah Kiat was the largest single polluter. The share of the other four companies are 19.03 percent for Onward Paper; 1.08 percent for Cipta Paperia; 0.24 percent for Sekawan Maju Pesat; and 0.09 percent for Picon Jaya.

Indah Kiat has repeatedly denied the plaintiff's claims and has said that it has installed waste treatment facilities as required. The paper manufacturer was one of five companies which have received a "green" environmental rating from the government in relation to compliance with environmental obligations. None of the 187 companies surveyed for the government ratings received the highest "gold" rating. Green is the next best grade.

In the meantime, a separate lawsuit has been filed against the same five defendants in the North Jakarta District Court by 17 Serang villagers representing some 5,000 families.

"The pollution has become worse and we have tried to settle the matter out of court -- to no avail," said T. Luthfi Yazid, a lawyer for the 17 representatives of the Serang residents.

He said that previous negotiations, involving the five companies, Serang Regency officials, community representatives and the Environmental Impact Management Agency, had failed to resolve the dispute.

Luthfi, a lawyer with the Indonesian Center for Environmental Law, said he filed the lawsuit with the court on Aug. 14.

The Jakarta office of the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute is also representing the Serang villagers, all of whom depend on water of the Ciujung river for their livelihoods, which include those based on fish breeding, rice farming, fishing, fish trading and water pump operation and trading.

The 17 villagers are demanding Rp 11.84 billion ($5.1 million) in damages, comprised of both immaterial losses resulting from "being deprived of the right to live in a clean and healthy environment" and material losses in the form of lost income and extra expenses incurred for the acquisition of clean water. The alleged pollution in respect of which the plaintiff claim damages began, they say, in September 1992.

The villagers' class action also places reliance on the 1993 study.

The Serang residents approached the Indonesian Center for Environmental Law in Jakarta last January, saying that pollution of the river had killed their fish and shrimp, damaged their rice crops and caused skin irritations.

They said that the waste water treatment facilities which the defendants claim to have installed were either inadequate or non- existent. (anr)