Indocement operates again

CIREBON, West Java: Cement company PT Indocement Tunggal Prakarsa said on Friday it had resumed operations at one of its factories in Cirebon, after fixing what the local environmental office had described as damage causing a high amount of dust to leak to the atmosphere.

Indocement corporate secretary Ria Sjahroni said the factory had ceased operations from March 12 to March 18. It had since resumed normal operations, she said.

On Thursday, Yadi Djunurhadi from Cirebon's environmental office said it had asked the factory to suspend operations, citing a broken dust-extraction device needing repair. He said the dust released posed a threat to human health and the environment.

Ria declined to confirm this and refused to say whether the leakage was the result of damage found at the factory's dust extraction equipment.

"There has been a bit of a fluctuation in dust released to the atmosphere but we have rectified the problem," she said, explaining the company had registered a "slight increase" in the amount of dust released by the plant.

She said the problem was dealt with through maintenance work, during which time the factory suspended operations. -- JP