Indonesia defends decision to export DDT stock to Nepal

Indonesia defends decision to export DDT stock to Nepal

By T. Sima Gunawan

JAKARTA (JP): The government has defended its decision to
unload some of its stock of DDT, a pesticide hazardous to health
and the environment, to Nepal stressing that it was at the
request of the importing country.

Dr. Hadi M. Abednego, the Director General of Communicable
Disease Control and Environmental Health at the Ministry of
Health, said that Nepal needs dichloro-diphenyl trichloro-ethane,
popularly known as DDT, in its drive to eliminate malaria.

"We are exporting the DDT upon the request of the Nepal
health minister," Abednego told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

Indonesia, which outlawed the use of DDT in 1990, has been
exporting from its remaining stock to Nepal and Myanmar. Last
year, it shipped 200 tons to Nepal and 100 tons to Myanmar. It is
in the process of preparing the shipment of another 100 tons to
Nepal.

The objection to another shipment came from the Pesticide
Watch of Nepal, a forum of local environmental journalists, who
recently sent a letter to the Indonesian government pleading that
the DDT export be discontinued because of the hazardous effects
on the environment.

The forum sent its message through the Indonesia Pesticide
Action Network (PAN Indonesia) asking it to persuade the
Indonesian government not to send what it calls a "poison gift"
to Nepal.

Riza V. Tjahjadi, PAN Indonesia executive manager, said
Indonesia should simply destroy all remaining DDT it still has in
stock, instead of exporting it to a foreign country.

Riza said that one of the most devastating impacts of DDT on
humans is its affect on male fertility.

Abednego however pointed out that the DDT export has the
endorsement of the World Health Organization (WHO), which is
paying the transportation costs.

He conceded that Indonesia stopped using DDT to eradicate
malaria because it contained a chemical which could be harmful to
human health and the environment.

"When the government made the decision to ban DDT, we still
had quite a lot of it in stock. Therefore we are glad that we can
give it away to countries in need."

Powerful

DDT is a powerful insecticide that has been in wide use for
many years to cope with disease transmitting insects. About 50
countries, including Indonesia, however, have now outlawed DDT.

Nepal first showed its interest in importing DDT from
Indonesia during the annual South, East Asian health ministerial
meeting in Katmandu in 1992, Abednego said. Nepal needed the
pesticide to fight malaria and other diseases caused by insects.

Asked if Indonesia informed Nepal about DDT's negative
effects, he said: "Everybody knows about it."

Deputy Director of WHO's office in Jakarta, Dr. Bambang
Winardi, defended WHO's decision to approve the import of DDT,
saying that the possibilities of deaths caused by malaria was
greater than the negative effects of DDT.

He acknowledged that DDT could cause cancer or other diseases
but so far there has never been any documented cases.

"Indonesia stopped using DDT because it can afford other
pesticides which contain less toxic chemicals, but not all
countries have the money to buy them," Bambang told the Post.

As a powerful pesticide, the chemical contained in DDT can
stay active from between three to six months while other
pesticides disperse within a day or two, Bambang said. "In other
words, from the environmental point of view DDT is harmful, but
from the health point of view it is helpful."

Indonesia has another 300 tons of the pesticide in stock,
according to Dr. Soesilo Soerjosembodo, Director of Vector Borne
Disease Control.

He said if there are no more requests from other countries,
the DDT might be destroyed in accordance with existing
procedures.

Malaria is still a problem in some areas of the country,
especially in eastern parts. An average of 4.5 out of 100 people
outside Java and Bali contracted the disease last year, while the
rate in Java and Bali was 0.19 per 100 people. In 1969 an average
of 15 out of a 100 people outside Java and Bali caught the
disease, compared to 1.5 per 100 people in Java and Bali, Dr.
Soesilo said.