Five E. Java firms on pollution blacklist: Minister

Five E. Java firms on pollution blacklist: Minister

ID Nugroho, The Jakarta Post, Surabaya

Five private companies in East Java have been included on the
environment office's blacklist of polluters, State Minister of
the Environment Rachmat Nadi Witoelar Kartaadipoetra said on
Wednesday.

"There are 42 companies listed as polluters, but eight of them
are blacklisted and I want action taken against them," Rachmat
said in Surabaya on Wednesday.

According to environment ministry data, of the eight
blacklisted companies, three are state-owned companies -- paper
producer PT Kertas Padalarang and sugar factory Jati Tujuh, both
in West Java; and paper producer PT Kertas Blabat in Central
Java.

The five blacklisted private companies in East Java are PT
Surabaya Industri Estate Rungkut (SIER) in Surabaya; PT Pasuruan
Industri Estate Rembang (PIER) in Pasuruan; PT Hanil Jaya Metal
Baja in Sidoardjo; PT Ispatindo in Sidoarjo; and PT Jatim Taman
Steel in Sidoardjo.

Rachmat said the state minister's office has sent letters to
State Minister of State Enterprises Sugiharto and governors
across the country to take action against polluters.

"If they (the state-owned companies) ignore it, the companies'
directors will be replaced," he insisted.

For the five private companies in East Java, he urged strict
sanctions to be imposed on them by the East Java provincial
administration.

"The provincial administration, which gave them operational
permits, could revoke these permits if they (the companies) keep
polluting the environment," said Gempur Adnan, deputy minister of
the environment.

Head of PT SIER and PT PIER's general affairs division, Wiji
Sudarmi, denied the minister's statement.

"We disagree with the accusation. In fact, our companies are
regularly cited as being models of good waste management...," she
told The Jakarta Post.

She said that when visiting representatives from foreign
companies came to Surabaya, they would ask to visit PT SIER and
PT PIER to learn of the companies' waste management processes.

"How can companies that are regularly cited as role models
become polluters?" she asked.

Representatives from the other companies were not available
for comment.

Rachmat said his office regularly found problems in taking
action against polluters.

"When the state minister of environment wants to take strict
action, other offices do not even move... it's hard," he said.

His office, he said, had proposed that the President formulate
better regulations to ensure the office's position. "If such
regulation is there, we can exert much pressure," Rachmat said.

He cited the cases of toxic waste being dumped in the country
as an example. Such waste, he added, could only be treated at the
Cileungsi dumping site in Bogor, West Java. But limited space and
facilities made it impossible for the dumping site to treat all
toxic waste from across the country.

"The state minister of environment can't directly order the
expansion of Cileungsi dumping site, or the building of similar
sites in other provinces," Rachmat said.

However, he added, his office has worked together with Bank
Indonesia so that proven polluters of the environment are not
provided with loans.

"We've handed the polluters' data to the bank, and the bank
distributes it to its branches across the country. So if any of
these companies ask for loan, it won't be approved by the bank,"
he said.