Improper waste disposal a 'tragedy waiting to happen'
Improper waste disposal a 'tragedy waiting to happen'
Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
A researcher has warned people against the possible outbreak of
minamata disease in Indonesia due to the poor management of toxic
waste water from mercury-using chemical companies.
Setiyono from the Research and Technology Application Agency
revealed that 90 percent of mercury waste water produced by
chemical companies is not accumulated at the only waste water
treatment plant in Cileungsi, 20 kilometers southeast of the
capital city.
"Only ten percent of toxic waste water is treated at the plant
while the remaining 90 percent is treated by the companies that
produce it (the waste), or directly dumped into the environment,"
he said at a seminar on environmental management here on Monday.
The plant at Cileungsi is the only treatment option for
companies producing toxic waste.
"We are waiting for another Minamata tragedy to happen in
Indonesia," he said.
More than 12,000 residents of the industrial area, Minamata,
in Japan, were declared to be victims of mercury toxic waste in
1968. Chemical companies in the area had been dumping mercury
waste for 36 years.
Around 1,400 of the patients -- who suffered from skin
disease and serious pneumonia -- died after only days of medical
treatment.
According to data, in Minamata, petrochemical and plastic
factories dumped waste averaging at 750 kilograms per year in to
the environment.
"The disease caused patients to suffer from severe
convulsions, loss of consciousness, repeated lapses into crazed
mental states and coma," he said, adding that such diseases had
also broken out in other countries like China, Tanzania and
Canada.
The Minamata tragedy resulted in the Japanese government
constructing toxic waste water plants in the provinces.
In 2002, the Cileungsi plant treated over 32,000 tons of
hazardous waste, an increase from about 30,000 tons in 2001,
according to World Bank data.
Petrochemical and plastic factories in Indonesia produced
more than one million tons of toxic waste in 2000 and only
100,000 tons were treated in the Cileungsi plant.
Setiyono also said it is no longer feasible for the plant to
operate in Cileungsi because it is a densely populated area and
the law states that such a facility must be located in an
uninhabited area.
Setiyono also urged the government to conduct periodic tests
in areas where chemical factories use mercury and to bring
companies that violate the law to justice.