Serang villagers seek help to fight pollution
Serang villagers seek help to fight pollution
JAKARTA (JP): A group of villagers from Serang in West Java
came to Jakarta yesterday to seek help in their long battle
against industries accused of polluting a main source of their
livelihood -- the Ciujung River.
Fifteen locals from villages along the Ciujung River said they
were getting desperate because the pollution has reached a stage
where their jobs and the tiny communities living along the banks
are now in jeopardy.
Some 2,000 families in seven villages in the Tirtayasa
subdistrict are being affected by the pollution. The river is
essential for the irrigation of their ricefields, fish and shrimp
ponds and also for their daily baths and laundry.
The farmers came yesterday to the office of the Indonesian
Center for Environmental Law (ICEL) to seek advice as to the best
course of action.
"I am afraid that if nothing is done soon, the people will
become restless and turn to their mystic, occult-related skills
to solve the problem," M. Tamrien Aof, a spokesman for the group,
said. The pollution has killed a large amount of the fish and
shrimp cultivated in the area, stunted the growth of their rice
crops and caused skin irritations, he said.
Their problem dates back to September 1992 when the villagers
first brought attention to the river's polluted state.
They accused the giant PT Indah Kiat Pulp and Paper company
(IKPP) of discharging oily substances into the river. But a 1993
government-commissioned study conducted by the Center for
Fisheries Research and Development found that there were other
companies contributing to the heavy pollution of the river,
including PT Sekawan Maju Pesat, PT Picon Jaya, PT Onward Paper
Utama and PT Cipta Papperia.
The Serang Regency Office, following the study, has issued
numerous orders to the company to stop the pollution but the
pollution has apparently continued unabated.
Tamrien said Indah Kiat had already invited the villagers on
two occasions to look at the plant's waste treatment facilities,
but the people rejected the offer. "We don't understand such
sophisticated things. We don't care whether they have a treatment
unit or not, we only want them not to disturb us with their
waste," he said.
ICEL Executive Director Mas Achmad Santosa said ICEL and the
Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) would urge the West Java
governor to bring the companies, the people and the local
government together to talk things out.
"We will ask for an integrated approach, meaning that it will
not only be limited to a certain amount of compensation for the
people but will include a post-compensation program guaranteeing
they don't pollute the river again," he said.(pwn)