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)