'Toxic' plant to handle waste

TANGERANG: Executives of textile producer PT Argo Pantes promised Tangerang councillors that the company would no longer discharge toxic waste into the Cisadane river without proper treatment, and that it would heed the calls for better conditions for its workers.

The chairman of the council's development commission, Harun, said on Thursday that the meeting with the company was aimed at improving its performance after it had been rated as an environmentally unfriendly company by the government in May.

"The pollution case itself is now being handled by the police. It's a warning to other industrial firms not to dump their waste into our rivers," Harun said.

However, none of the company executives were able to explain precisely how it the company would be able to procure expensive waste treatment equipment given that the company, established in 1971, is now mired in financial woes and has dismissed 2,200 workers. -- JP