Pollution hits Padang port

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PADANG, West Sumatra: The outdated environmental impact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)