Unprofessional decision

Unprofessional decision

The recent statement by the state minister of environment on
the plan to close PT Inti Indorayon Utama, a pulp and paper
company in North Sumatra, is considered a bias and unprofessional
decision. The House of Representatives agreed to the plan to
close the Medan-based factory, decreed by State Minister of
Environment Panangian Siregar in a House hearing on June 15,
1998.

One cannot say that pulp and paper companies have succeeded in
being kind to the environment. Environmentalists would agree with
that.

Despite the fact that Panangian Siregar is not regarded by the
public as an environmental specialist like his predecessors, this
Indonesian Democratic Party man may have compiled a list of
offenses by the company.

An objective point of view surely would mean the obligatory
closure of the company. If stress is put on production impact,
then PT Inti Indorayon Utama has certainly caused environmental
damage to its surroundings, such as people in the area coming
down with infection and skin ailments.

Chemicals are widely used by pulp and paper companies. If that
is the case, why not be consistent and close other pulp and paper
companies throughout the country, for none of them have a clean
record of pollution prevention.

Keeping in mind that the pulp and paper industry, or other
industries for that matter, cannot limit its waste to zero,
sustainable development research in the environmental sector
finds that waste minimization in factories is the most
appropriate alternative. It is no longer a case of how to
eliminate factory waste, but of how to reduce it to a minimum.

MOHAMMAD RIZKY SASONO

Jakarta