Harmful wate too close at home

Harmful wate too close at home

Fadli, The Jakarta Post, Galang Baru Island

The environment minister has gone to Galang Baru Island to
personally make sure 3,000 tons of dangerous waste illegally
imported from Singapore goes back to that country.

However, environmentalists doubt the waste will actually leave
the country and believe the minister is being duped by those
responsible for the dumping.

State Minister for the Environment Rachmat Witoelar inspected
on Tuesday 70 hectares of land where more than 1,700 large bags
of waste had stood for more than six months.

"I want the land where the waste is piled up to return to its
previous condition. I've asked my deputies to examine the land,
water and environmental conditions of the surrounding area to
learn whether they have been contaminated by the waste from
Singapore," Rachmat said.

He then went to a small port nearby to ensure the waste had
already been loaded on board a ship bound for Singapore.

Rachmat said his office had questioned five people from the
company and the Batam administration over the importation.

"But the most important thing is, the waste should be sent out
of the country today (Tuesday). The Navy will guard it (the ship
which carried the waste) on its way to the border of Indonesia
and Singapore," Rachmat said.

"If Singapore government does not consider this waste, why
would they reject it? If necessary, we will send this waste to
Singapore," he said.

However, on Wednesday the ship supposed to do the job was
still anchored in Galang Baru port.

The Singapore Consulate General in Pekanbaru, Ajit Sing, said
on Tuesday, that his government had no official confirmation that
Indonesia would send material imported by PT APEL back to
Singapore.

Meanwhile, chairman of the Batam Lestari environmental group
Brig. Gen. (ret.) I Wayan Githa said he could not be sure if the
waste would eventually reach Singapore.

"The thing that worries us is if the waste is dumped into the
sea. Singapore is a country with good law enforcement. Their
officials are better than ours. Even dropping a cigarette butt
gets punished, let alone illegally sending hundreds of tons of
waste. I feel that our government has been weak in its handling
of this case," I Wayan said on Wednesday.

He expressed his concern that the minister was being deceived
by those who were actually responsible for the waste's entry into
the country, who had told him it would be sent back to Singapore.

"I see the ship which carried the waste is still anchored in
Galang Baru island. I don't know when it will leave. Meanwhile
the minister has received a report that the ship will leave
soon," he said.

Hundreds of tons of the waste landed in the island following
an agriculture investment proposal by PT APEL to Batam Mayor Nyat
Kadir on July 21.

The proposal requested a permit to bring in 3,000 tones of
organic fertilizer to Galang. After getting the permit, PT APEL
dumped the bags on Galang Baru island.

However by August last year, after pressure from environmental
groups and local administrations, the contents of the bags were
tested and found to contain hazardous materials, which it was
illegal to dump.

The Sucofindo Batam lab which tested the materials found
variety of controlled metals and chemicals in the organic waste.

Based on the test results, the State Minister of Environment
Office sent a letter to the Batam Mayor Nyat Kadir notifying the
administration had facilitated the import of organic waste as
organic materials on Sept. 1 last year.

The letter said based on the dangerous and poisonous waste
definition of Law 23/1997 on the environment, the material
imported by PT APEL was categorized as B3 hazardous waste. Under
the law, it this waste prohibited and should be sent back to
country of its origin to prevent environmental destruction at the
site.

However, PT APEL operations manager Fredy Boy on Tuesday
insisted the imported material was organic fertilizer that was
processed from tree branches.

"And I've checked, and the case is still being investigated.
The material is not B3 waste, it is pure organic fertilizer,"
Fredy said.

Mayor Nyat Kadi, meanwhile, told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday
the administration had been deceived by PT APEL.

"The Batam administration feels deceived by PT APEL, which
said it was importing fertilizer, which turned out to be waste. I
have reported the case to the police and the minister's office,"
Nyat Kadir said.

"The case has now turned into a government to government
issue, between Indonesian and Singapore," he said.