Laundry owners agree to wash dirty linen elsewhere

Laundry owners agree to wash dirty linen elsewhere

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Owners of polluting laundry plants in Sukabumi Selatan
subdistrict, West Jakarta, are unperturbed by the City Council's
threat to shut down their businesses.

"If the residents want us out, there is nothing we can do
except follow whatever decision is made," Helmy, one of the
owners, told The Jakarta Post on Saturday. "Hopefully it will not
be too far from here, where my customers are."

There are at least 50 garment processing plants laundering
jeans in the area that dispose of liquid waste in the river,
prompting residents to file a protest with the City Council.
 The City Council has agreed to relocate the laundry plants to
more suitable areas, such as Cakung in East Jakarta, Semanan in
West Jakarta, and Cibubur in West Java.

The garment processing plants, which employ around 40 to 50
workers each, use harsh chemicals to fade jeans in keeping with
market tastes. Waste from these laundries, contains a cocktail of
different chemicals that include fabric dyes, which are extremely
toxic to the environment.

Another laundry owner, Heny, who has run a garment making
operation, laundry and a jeans store for the past 20 years,
blamed newcomers whom she said did not abide by procedures in
opening such a business.

"Those unlicensed laundries are greedy. They want to launder,
but they don't have enough money to afford a complete system like
the one I have. No wonder the neighborhood doesn't like them. I
think they should be closed down," Heny told the Post.

The unlicensed plants have been operating for about five years
without the approval of the authorities. Several businesspeople
claim city officials who have granted permission for the
operation of the jeans laundering businesses have accepted
bribes.

In a hearing with the City Council's Commission D on
development, deputy head of the Sukabumi Selatan Laundry Plants
Association, Bustami, said the businesspeople bribed the city
officials to obtain a permit and other documents.

Bustami declined to mention the names of the officials or the
amount of money.

However, Helmy claimed that he only gave money to officials
who visited the laundry during holidays, like Idul Fitri or
Independence Day "for a chat".

"At that time they would ask for an amount of money ... not
much, just a couple of hundred thousand rupiah. We call it a tip.
We also give tips to the subdistrict's military task force
(Babinsa)," he added.

Responding to that, Sukabumi Selatan subdistrict head Taufik
Chandra denied allegations of bribery.

"I have been working in the subdistrict for 11 months, I have
never heard of any attempt made to legalize the operation of the
laundries by the subdistrict office," said Taufik.

"I don't know if any of my staff or other officials before my
term have 'visited' the laundry owners. If this is the case, I
will surely take action."