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)