Pig enclosure protested

TANGERANG (JP): Hundreds of residents of Kohod, Tanjung Burung, Tanjung Pasir and Melayu Barat villages in Pakuaji district here went to the Tangerang regency office on Monday, demanding the closure of a pig farm in their area.

H. Sanusi, spokesman for the protesters, said they were forced to go to the regency office because the complaints they'd filed over the last few years had not been heeded.

He said that the closure of the breeding center was badly needed because its owners dumped waste straight into the nearby Cisadane river, where local residents bathed, washed clothes and took water for drinking.

"Moreover the pig farm, which started operating in 1983, also spreads a really bad smell over the surrounding area," he said.

Most people living near the facility, he said, were devoted Moslems, who frequently used water from the river to perform ablution before prayers.

Sanusi said that residents sent letters of complaint on Sept. 20 to Tangerang regent Agus Djunara, West Java Governor R. Nuriana, the West Java Legislative Council, the Indonesian Ulemas Council, the Jakarta Military Command and the Jakarta Police.

"If there is still no response, I will not hesitate to gather a bigger crowd to complain at the Tangerang regency office," he said. (41/ivy)