Kapuk residents to return to former polluted residence

JAKARTA (JP): Residents living behind a factory wall in Cengkareng, West Jakarta, where one of their neighbors died from inhaling fumes last month, say they don't have any money to move anywhere else, despite calls from the city environmental office.

The residents said on Saturday that as soon as workers finish cleaning the gutters of possible harmful substances, they would return to their homes in the alley, Gang Jamblang.

The 23 families in the Kapuk subdistrict are currently renting homes elsewhere, which they are able to do because of a provision of a month's rent of Rp 75,000 (US$31.9) each from the factory, PT Continental Panji Pratama.

A team from the city's environmental office has recommended that the municipality move the 50 people, including children, from the shacks erected above a gutter behind the factory.

The factory, on Jl. Berdikari, produces President brand briefcases and suitcases made for export.

The team was assigned to study the area following the death of a mother of three, Uni, on April 24. She died shortly after inhaling fumes, thought to be sulfur, when she went to her bathroom. Her son and six other neighbors were hospitalized after they fainted from inhaling the fumes.

Narti, one of those who fainted, said her husband's small salary makes it impossible for them to move.

"He only earns a monthly salary of Rp 60,000 as a driver at a drink factory," Narti said.

The residents said the fumes had never caused fainting or a death, although they often got headaches and dizziness.

Hadi, a technician at the factory, had told the police that on the morning Uni died, he had assigned workers to clean the factory's waste water tub.

The factory now provides barrels for its waste water, to prevent it flowing into the gutter under the residents' homes.

Mayor Sutardjianto said his office has already planned to move the residents, but could not say when this would take place.

The recently-revealed findings of the city's environmental team shows the unhealthy living conditions behind the factory. The gutter under the homes often flows knee deep.

The factory's waste water flows behind one of the shacks, erected 14 years after the factory opened in 1975.

The team is also checking on whether the city's spatial plans allocates the site for industries or residences.

Final results of police investigations are yet to be announced.

Iman, the neighborhood community head, said yesterday the subdistrict head, Eman Supriatna, will announce when it is safe for residents to return.

Last Friday, the company's director, Johan Iskandar, Eman and city officials checked the cleaning operation, Iman said.

Iman said the shacks above the gutter are still on a better site than others in a nearby neighborhood.

"Those homes are erected above a graveyard and the place is always flooded," he said.

He said many residents work for the surrounding factories, with wages barely above the minimum daily level of Rp 5,200. "There is no allowance for rent or housing," said Iman, who is a civil servant at the state-owned Perumka railway company and a part-time worker at Continental Panji Pratama.

Meanwhile, Agus, 8, the eldest of Uni's three orphaned children, has not been informed of his mother's death as of Saturday.

"We just tell him his mother is visiting his grandmother," Narti said. Narti now takes care of Agus while his father, Kohar, is at work as a part-time driver and trader.

"But he cries when he listens to adults talking about the accident, maybe he knows," Narti said.

Agus' younger siblings are now in the care of their grandmother in Rangkasbitung, West Java. (anr)