Pollution complaints investigated
Pollution complaints investigated
Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang
The office of the State Minister of the Environment is to deploy
an investigative team to analyze liquid waste allegedly dumped by
five companies into rivers in Tangerang regency.
Sugeng Prayitno of the minister's office said on Friday that
if the analysis results confirmed that the five companies had
polluted the rivers, the team would file a report with the police
for further investigation.
"Complaints from regencies do not just stop at the minister's
office. In fact, it is our duty to follow up on the case," he
said after a gathering with 26 district officials from Tangerang
to introduce the Environmental Law.
Sugeng said environmental minister Nabiel Makarim would be
serious in processing any complaints on pollution and
environmental damage.
"Therefore, we are deploying a team to verify the regency's
complaints, then we can take them to court," he said.
However, he did not say when the team would be deployed.
Under Chapter VIII, Article 40 of Law No. 23/1997 on the
environment, authorized officers can be dispatched to investigate
allegations of pollution or environmental damage, and are obliged
to report their findings to the police.
The regency's environmental agency had sent warnings to 25
companies earlier this year for allegedly dumping their liquid
waste into the rivers.
Most of the companies did not possess Environmental Impact
Assessment (Amdal) certificates, nor did they operate liquid
waste treatment plants (IPAL) on their premises. Even those with
treatment plants opted to dump their liquid waste into the rivers
to reduce operational costs.
Of the 25 companies, 20 had improved their systems, but the
other five did not respond.
Tangerang regent Ismet Iskandar filed complaints against the
five companies to the minister's office on Aug. 20.
Polluted rivers mostly flow into the Java Sea and had thus
affected fisheries in Tangerang's coastal areas. The fish farmers
had to stop their activities, as their fish and shrimp died from
the pollution.