Silk-screen factory faulted for pollution
JAKARTA (JP): A delegation of Rawa Buaya residents, West Jakarta, went to the City Council yesterday to protest the operation of a silk-screen factory which allegedly pollutes the nearby areas.
The 10-member delegation, representing 74 families of the Rawa Buaya subdistrict, told the council's Commission D, which is in charge of environmental affairs, that waste from the factory has contaminated the local residents' wells.
The delegates said due to the high level of contamination, local residents can no longer use water from their wells and are forced to spend extra money to buy water for their daily necessities.
They said that the factory frequently disposes of the waste in the nearby river at night and on Fridays, when most local residents are at the mosque. Part of the waste apparently seeps into the ground and affects the groundwater, they said.
"We previously cleaned our wells once every two weeks, but now we are forced to do it every two days," Muchtar, one of the delegates, said.
Muchtar is convinced the contamination is caused by the company because it is the only factory in operation in the area.
The delegates said the factory is located on Jl. Almakrifa in Kelingkit of Rawa Buaya subdistrict, where the residents who are mostly daily contract workers live, while the factory owner lives outside the area.
"I strongly believe that the factory is illegal because it has no name," Muchtar said, adding that it has been in operation since December 1993.
He said that the case has been reported to the Rawa Buaya subdistrict chief, the Cengkareng district chief, the Cengkareng police office as well as the West Jakarta mayor. However, no response has been made yet, he said.
"We cannot wait any longer for the real action of the authority because the chemical pollution has forced us to buy clean water for daily consumption," Achmad Syaiful, another delegate, said.
Soetarman AMD, Arie Putra Bintana, Hotma Tambunan, Saud Rahman and Bandjar Marpaung of the Commission D, who met the residents' representatives yesterday, promised that they will mediate between the residents and the owner of the factory. (32)