Japanese loan for environment

TANGERANG (JP): Mitsui Corporation of Japan is expected to disburse part of a US$100 million loan it pledged for the improvement of environmental conservation in Indonesia, an official said on Friday.

Secretary of Tangerang's Development Planning Agency Roestiwi said part of the loan would be given to the Tangerang mayoralty.

The preliminary steps for the disbursement of the loan, called the Yen Credit for Environment, were disclosed during a recent visit to Tangerang by the corporation's executives.

"The executives said they would distribute the loan for environmental programs in several regions in the country, including Tangerang," she said.

She said that during a meeting with local officials, the executives said the mayoralty was chosen as one of the recipients of the loan because many factories were operating in Tangerang, causing several environmental problems in the mayoralty.

According to the executives, the loan recipients should be able to repay the loan within 30 years, she said, adding recipients should also have the ability to prevent environmental problems and restore the environment.

Roestiwi said Tangerang-owned tap water firm PDAM Tangerang was proposed as a loan recipient because the firm had the ability to treat environmental problems.

She said the firm also could repay the loan.

With the loan, the firm is expected to improve its ability to manage the environment, particularly to protect rivers from industrial waste, she said.

A local environmental agency found at least 172 companies illegally dumped wastewater into the mayoralty's rivers. (41/jun)