New bylaw may worsen Jakarta pollution
Multa Fidrus, Tangerang
An environmentalist raised concerns that a new bylaw, which was just enforced earlier this month, might worsen river pollution as it apparently disregarded control of the disposal of liquid waste produced by hospitals.
The Urban Environmental Studies Forum (Forklip) coordinator Karya Ersada said on Wednesday that there had not yet been an assessment study on the danger of the hospitals' liquid waste.
"Unlike factories and hotels, which have tightly controlled waste treatment facilities, hospitals produce more toxic liquid waste containing chemical substances, microbiotic and radioactive substances," Ersada told The Jakarta Post.
It was not until 1999 that hospitals were made to report where they dumped their waste, he added.
Ersada is a member of a team formed by the Office of the State Minister of Environment whose task it is to look into the implementation of Bylaw No. 8/2003 on permits given to factories, hotels and hospitals to dispose of their liquid waste in rivers.
The bylaw also mentions that Tangerang General Hospital, Usada Insani Hospital, Sitanala Leprosy Hospital, Makna Hospital and Sari Asih Hospital must immediately arrange for the permits with the Tangerang Environment Agency.
"It contradicted the state minister's Decree No. 52/1995 that stipulates tight control on hospital liquid waste," Ersada added.
He further criticized the Tangerang Environment Agency for having failed to carry out its supervisory and controlling functions against environmental damage as it was focusing too much on increasing the administration's revenue from the permit fees.
Meanwhile, head of the environmental impact control department at the agency, M. Arun, said that the municipality administration would revoke the hospitals' operational permits if the management failed to apply for the disposal permit before the deadline, to be designated later by the administration.
Separately, an official at the Banten provincial Environmental and Energy Agency said that polluted rivers in Tangerang and Serang regencies as well as Cilegon municipality had killed off some 60 percent of the indigenous flora and fauna in the northern part of the province.
Achmad Basyarie, head of maritime life research department at the agency, said sea water was now polluted with industrial waste.
"If there isn't much better control against dumping into rivers by industrial firms, I'm sure that all life in this are of the sea will be gone in a very short time," he asserted.
He added that a recent survey by the agency showed that continuous exploitation of the coral reefs by locals had further devastated the ecosystem.