Pollution hits Padang port

PADANG, West Sumatra: The outdated environmental impact management study of Teluk Bayur Port here must be reviewed, according to environmental authorities from Region I which includes West Sumatra.

Darman Siri, head of the regional environment impact management agency, said on Wednesday that the last environmental study for the port was conducted in 1992. There have been recent reports of pollution affecting the port.

In early June the assistant to the Minister of Communications, Rasydad Manan, instructed the government-run port company PT Pelindo and the port management to immediately conduct another study of environmental conditions.

The study showed indications that firms contributing to pollution included the leading mining company PT Tambang Batubara Bukit Asam through its Ombilin unit.

Other sources of pollution, Darman Siri said, were waste from passing ships and households. He warned that the waste could include mercury.

Representative of PT BBA coal mining firm, Yuswir, denied the firm contributed to pollution.

"Coal only contains carbon and a little sulfur," he said.

The port is home to thousands of dock workers and residences line the coast. (28)