Residents demand factory closure

TANGERANG: Residents in Karang Tengah subdistrict in Tangerang municipality have asked the local administration to shut down a plastics factory operated by PT Aries as its liquid waste discharges had polluted their wells.

"Officials of the municipal environmental agency took water samples from residents' wells to be examined last year. But to date, we haven't received any reports on the test results," Asmin Hidayat, the head of community unit (RW) 05, said on Saturday.

He said residents had lost patience after waiting for one year with no sign of the test results being announced by the agency. "In the meantime, we can no longer use the water from our wells as it has been polluted by the waste. We demand that the factory be closed," he said.

A number of RW-05 residents told The Jakarta Post that they could no longer drink or use the water for bathing or other purposes. Many of them had suffered skin ailments and they had to buy water for their daily needs.

"Look at the body, legs and hands of my son. They are covered with ulcers and sores, and it's all because of using the polluted water for bathing," a resident named Untung said.

Separately, Maria, the owner of PT Aries, strongly denied that her factory had polluted the residents' wells. "These accusations are groundless and fabricated. They're not true. I am sure this is all the work of people who are jealous of us and have tried to purposely provoke the residents," said Maria, who established the factory with her husband Ari in 1996.--JP