Pollution makes life a hell for many in E. Java

ID Nugroho, The Jakarta Post, Surabaya

Siti, a 50-year-old woman, is one of thousands of people living in modest rented houses in the village of Lebak Jaya in Kenjeran, Surabaya, East Java, situated near the factory walls of PT UBS.

The place she calls home measures 12 square meters and is crammed with beds, a cupboard, a small table and a television set. She lives with her daughter, son-in-law and grandchild.

Siti and the thousands of residents in the area have to deal with the noise from the factory, not to mention the factory emissions and problems with their groundwater.

Water drawn from wells in the area is murky and has a bad smell. Many residents prefer to buy water sold by residents who are customers of the local tap water company.

After living with the situation for almost 15 years, residents decided not to stay quiet any longer, filing a complaint with the Surabaya municipal council.

The municipal council persuaded the municipality, through the provincial environmental office, to check the groundwater in the area for pollutants and to test the air around the factory in the middle of 2004.

Water pollutants in the area were found to exceed the normal standard density of 64 milligrams per liter.

Fifteen residents of Lebak Jaya are suffering from lung disease, with three of them dying, while dozens of others have bronchitis, pharyngitis and frequent diarrhea.

Data from the East Java branch of the Indonesian Environmental Forum (Walhi) indicated that many married women in the area suffered from sterility, ovarian cancer and abnormal births.

The Surabaya municipal council recommended that the provincial administration close down the gold processing plant.

However, the plant, which was built in the 1990s, continues to operate to this day.

"The situation has not changed," Agung, a Lebak Jaya resident, told The Jakarta Post recently.

This is not the only area in the province struggling with pollution problems. The head of the East Java branch of the Environmental Impact Management Agency (Bapedal), Hartoyo, recently announced that 16 companies in East Java were violating pollution regulations.

The companies are located in large cities such as Surabaya, Sidoarjo, Gresik, Pasuruan, Mojokerto, Malang and Nganjuk.

"All 16 companies have polluted the soil and rivers in East Java," said Hartoyo during a hearing with Commission D of the provincial legislature.

The companies, which are being investigated by the provincial police, were identified only by their initials: PT UBS, PT SPM and PT WJ (Surabaya); CV TPI and PT WS (Sidoarjo); PT TAS, PT MP and PT TMS (Gresik); CV LJ, PT SC and PT SSL (Pasuruan); PT DS (Mojokerto); PT EMF and PT PBA (Malang); and PT JK (Nganjuk).

Two of the companies have been fined by district courts. They are PT Sorini Corporation in Pasuruan and PT Djabes Sejati in Mojokerto.

"PT Sorini Corporation has been fined Rp 1 million and PT Djabes Sejati Rp 500,000," said Hartoyo.

A case involving PT TIS is still making its way through the Sidoarjo District Court.

Meanwhile, the South Surabaya Police discovered hazardous waste of the B3 type (highly flammable and not recyclable) being disposed of at the Jambangan dump at the end of March.

According to Government Regulation No. 18/1999 on the environment, such waste can only be disposed of at the Cileungsi dump in Bogor, West Java.

After an investigation, the police found a number of serious violations, including the forging of scrap waste disposal permits and the illegal disposal of hazardous waste.

The police have identified two suspects but have not detained or charged either man.

The East Java branch of Walhi does not believe either the police or Bapedal are doing enough to deal with pollution in the province, pointing out that the authorities have not used Law No. 23/1997 on environmental management to punish polluters.

For example, the two companies that were fined Rp 1 million and Rp 500,000 respectively in district courts, could have faced fines of up to Rp 500 million if charged under Law No. 23/1997.

"Fines of Rp 1 million and Rp 500,000 mean nothing to polluting companies. The money is not enough to repair the environment damaged by their pollution. The government is not serious about handling pollution case," said the executive director of East Java Walhi, Saiful Ashadi.