Furious coral exporter busts his tank

Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang

It started as an official visit, but a simple question from a member of the Tangerang City Council caused businessman Samin Iwan alias Ah Kwong, director of PT Sangputra Wismanjaya, to fly into a rage and destroy his own property.

The visit by members of the council's Commission B, which oversees environmental issues, was made on Wednesday following complaints made by residents of Tegal Bagus village, Teluk Naga, who said the presence of PT Sangputra, which grows and exports decorative coral plants and tropical fish, had damaged the environment in their neighborhood.

"Can we have a look at your environmental impact analysis documents," a councillor asked.

The question reportedly caused Samin to storm out of the company's meeting room, smashing several fish tanks on the way.

"You're all dismissed ... dismissed! Stop working now! And ask for your salary from those councillors," Samin was heard to shout at his workers, who were busily packing boxes reading "live tropical fish".

The commission chairman Taufik Wijaya, deputy Eni Suhaeni, commission secretary Iqbal and three commission members Sobri, Endang Saptorini and Burhanudin, left the company premises and said they would report the businessman to the police.

"We came here politely and in good faith, with an official letter from the Council speaker just to check whether (Samin) had obtained the required permits from the administration, following media reports the business was illegal and had polluted residents' wells," Taufik Wijaya said.

The Jakarta Post observed that the company grows coral plants and breeds fish in several large ponds on a five-hectare plot of land.

Ulil, a worker, said that there were some 1,000 species of plants and fish being grown by the company.

At least 66 plant species are varieties of decorative coral reef plants, including Acropora formosa, Cyphastrea serolia and Galaxia astreata that are popular in Japanese and North American markets.

"All of the coral flowers are taken from Lampung province and Cimalaya in Karawang, West Java," he said, adding that the company also received orders from the Netherlands.

He said that such a business did not damage the environment at all.

However, local residents have insisted that water in their wells has turned salty because they say the firm's waste water is disposed of around the area.