Plywood giant says rating unjustified

Plywood giant says rating unjustified

By Stevie Emilia

PEKANBARU, Riau (JP): PT Radja Garuda Mas Panel, a giant
plywood producer based in Riau, believes its recent
classification as one of the country's worst polluters is
unjustified.

Wan Mohd. Jakh Anza, a senior executive of the company, told
reporters that the company believes its waste was not as bad as
the government suggested last month and that it only received the
"black rating", given to the worst polluters, because of a
technical fault.

"We were rated black because we did not deliver the results of
our own waste analysis on time," said Jakh, who is responsible
for the analysis of the company's waste treatment.

Laboratories appointed to analyze Radja Garuda Mas's latest
waste discharged into the nearby river only received samples of
its waste in November, too late for it to be included in the
business rating analysis that was announced in late December.

The Environmental Impact Management Agency, the government's
environmental watchdog which ran the survey, announced before the
end of the year the result of its study on the waste discharged
by more than 200 companies.

Five companies received the black rating reserved for the
worst polluters. The other four rated black are PT Tirta Mahakam
Plywood Industry in East Kalimantan; PT Papyrus Sakti Paper Mill
in West Java; PT Sari Morawa, a paper factory, in North Sumatra;
and PT Sico, a paint factory in North Sumatra.

None of those surveyed received the gold rating reserved for
companies with zero pollution. The other ratings are green, red
and blue in that order.

"I'm sure that in the next announcement in June, our company
will no longer be rated black. I expect to get at least blue,"
Jakh said.

The government announces the ratings every six months.

State Minister of the Environment Sarwono Kusumaatmadja this
week visited Riau to inaugurate a Bappedal representative office,
one of five the government is opening up to ensure better
supervision by the agency nationwide.

During the visit, he urged the mass media to put pressure on
companies rated among the worst polluters to tighten their waste
control and disposal measures.

The minister noted that Radja Garuda Mas was also rated black
in the June survey.

The government has no immediate plan to prosecute those rated
the worst polluters because of the lengthy litigation process and
the inadequate legal framework to convict polluters.

Jakh said Radja Garuda Ma cares about the environment. "As a
business concern, we are aware that environmental aspects are
important in business competition," he said.

He said the company has invested in waste treatment facilities

"In fact, we were surprised to learn that Bappedal gave us a
black rating. And we only found it out from newspapers," he said,
adding however that the company accepted the government's
decision.