Garut rivers run foul with waste

Garut rivers run foul with waste

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Garut, West Java

Toxic waste pollution in Garut, West Java, has reached alarming
proportions but the local administration is powerless to take
tough legal action against the perpetrators.

The water in the Ciwalen and Cigulampeng rivers, and even the
Cimanuk river, has turned black, with a putrid odor.

Chromium toxic waste produced by local export-oriented leather
tanneries has already contaminated soil and vegetables grown
alongside the Ciwalen river, with pollution exceeding the maximum
levels set by the State Ministry for the Environment.

A test carried out in July showed that chromium (III) in the
soil had already reached 0.11145 milligram per kilogram, while
chromium in cabbage was 1.00009 mg per kg, both above the maximum
level of 0.000035 mg per kg.

Chromium, used to boost leather tanning productivity, can
induce skin rashes and damage the reproductive system.

Head of Garut Environmental Management Agency (BPLH) Sukriya
admitted last week that toxic waste from leather tanneries in
Sukaregang was a major problem in the area but the local
administration had yet to find a way to resolve it.

"Despite the toxic waste it produces, the industry absorbs
thousands of workers. If we took tough action against those
companies, like taking them to court or closing them down, we are
afraid unemployment would rise," Sukriya told journalists last
week.

According to Sukriya, there were currently over 330 small- and
medium-sized leather tanning firms operating in Garut, producing
a total of up to 40 tons of toxic waste every month.

On average, the companies produce 900 tons of tanned leather
every month, the bulk of which is exported to Singapore, Malaysia
and Taiwan, apart from meeting demand from Jakarta, West Java,
Central Java, East Java, Bali and several provinces in Sumatra.

"Only a few plants have a toxic waste control installation
(IPAL), while some have waste installations but do not operate
them," he said.

Sukriya said the local administration had set up two IPALs to
help reduce widespread toxic waste pollution, but many companies
didn't want to use them.

"Now we can only pray that their moral responsibility will
improve and they will give more consideration to environmental
damage in their management," he said.

Local resident Suwarna, 36, said strong odors from the Ciwalen
river had been a nuisance to people living nearby and the water
couldn't be used anymore.

"We protested to the industry two years ago to manage their
waste properly, but they gave us only empty promises. It seems as
though the local government did nothing about it," he said.

Farmers, whose land surrounds the Ciwalen and Cigulampeng
rivers, have reportedly suffered from a decline in the rice
harvest, while others have complained about skin irritations.

Gunawan, 38, a local leather tanning firm senior official,
said his firm must have controlled the waste properly, otherwise
the government would have imposed a fine on his company.

"We were fined once because farmers couldn't cultivate their
paddy fields due to our toxic waste," he said