Jakarta rivers heavily polluted
Jakarta rivers heavily polluted
Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The city administration is doing almost nothing to prevent
Jakarta's rivers from becoming industrial and household dump
sites.
City Environmental Management Agency (BPLHD) environment
impact protection head Ridwan Panjaitan claimed the condition of
the rivers was worsened by the absence of a sewerage system in
the city.
"You can imagine how heavily polluted our rivers are as there
is no sewerage system to deal with waste," Ridwan said.
However, BPLHD data shows that of 22,506 industries/businesses
in the city only 65 or 3 percent have liquid waste disposal
permits.
The rivers are black with pollution and emit an awful stench.
During the dry season the condition of the rivers worsens as
water levels drop.
By the time the water flows out to sea it is thick with waste.
Ridwan admitted his office had not been able to control the
industries despite environmental laws giving his office the
authority to investigate polluting industries, and impose stiff
penalties.
He blamed limited staff numbers.
BPLHD senior staff member Dulles Manurung said it was
currently investigating 46 cases of pollution, all launched after
complaints from the public.
Of the cases, 20 industries were under investigation, 16 had
been issued warnings for improper liquid waste management and 10
others had been ordered to repair their treatment facilities.
He said based on Gubernatorial Decree no. 582/1995, warning
letters were sent to the polluters three times.
The industries were given three months after each warning to
improve waste treatment facilities.
Dulles said if the industry still failed to act it would be
denied access to release its waste into the rivers and the
administration would publicly name the industry as an
environmental polluter.
Polluters can receive a maximum sentence of 10 years in jail
and a maximum fine of Rp 500 million (US$60,240) under
environmental laws.
If the damage leads to death the maximum sentence is 15 years
in jail and a fine of Rp 750 million.
The agency earlier announced that only four out of the city's
99 hospitals have efficient programs to manage radioactive and
clinical waste.
The people in close proximity to the hospitals live in
jeopardy as radiological waste can cause various diseases such as
cancer, while clinical waste can spread diseases from the
hospital.
Many hospitals reportedly dump their liquid waste into the
rivers and their solid waste at the Bantar Gebang dump site in
Bekasi.
Among the hospitals seen to be negligent in their waste
disposal are an eye center in Central Jakarta, a hospital
belonging to a state enterprise in South Jakarta and a hospital
belonging to a private university in North Jakarta.