Polluting firms to face sanctions

Polluting firms to face sanctions

SIDOARJO, East Java: The government is considering imposing
the harshest possible sanctions on polluting companies in order
to deter others and prevent environment-damaging practices from
spreading, Minister of Environment Sarwono Kusumaatmadja said
here on Thursday.

Antara quoted the minister as saying the sanctions were
contained in an environmental bill which would be submitted soon
to the House of Representatives for approval. If passed, the
document would replace Environmental Law No. 5 of 1982, he said.

Sarwono was here to officiate the commissioning of a waste
treatment plant.

On Wednesday, the minister witnessed the signing of a
cooperation agreement between East Java administration and a
consortium of Indonesian and U.S. companies on the construction
of a toxic and hazardous waste treatment plant in Gresik, the
second to be built after a plant in Cileungsi, West Java, in
1992.

Under the agreement, the East Java administration is to make
available 77.5 hectares of land for the construction of the
facility expected to cost US$25 million.

Sarwono said the government was planning to build two other
toxic waste treatment plants in Samboja, East Kalimantan and in
North Sumatra respectively. (swe)