Women start campaign against leaded gasoline

Women start campaign against leaded gasoline

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Juju Kosasih, 47, began to suspect how dangerous the lead-
polluted water supply in her neighborhood of Munjul, East
Jakarta, was when she witnessed the births of three premature
babies. Two were stillborn, while one died five months later.

"I worry every time someone in the neighborhood gets
pregnant," said the mother of four, one of 10 women, who formed
an advocacy group called Mothers Against Lead, on Monday.

The 10 women have just returned from the U.S. where they went
for a comparative study on lead use. They are starting a domestic
campaign against leaded gasoline and the use of the substance in
other materials.

Lead is a poisonous substance most often found here in leaded
gasoline and paint; two products that most developed countries
have banned. Leaded paint is still freely avaliable in the
country and the gasoline has been phased out only in Jakarta,
Batam, Cirebon in West Java and Bali.

The government has planned to stop the nationwide use of
leaded gasoline numerous times, setting an original deadline to
phase it out by 1999. However, it failed to meet its latest
deadline of Jan. 1 this year and has rescheduled the phase-out to
October.

However, it was not paint or gasoline but polluted water
leeching into groundwater supplies that was believed to have
caused the diseases that afflicted the Manjul area, where Juju
lives.

In 2003, Juju's family were one of 74 Munjul households who
filed a civil lawsuit against the government for failing to
enforce environmental laws and three companies, which they
claimed caused the water pollution.

A panel of judges rejected the lawsuit in October last year
because they said the residents lacked evidence. Represented by a
non-governmental organization, the residents have since filed an
appeal.

Laboratory tests conducted by the Regional Environmental
Impact Management Agency in 2000 showed that the 70 wells used by
the residents contained lead of up to 540 times the allowable
level of 0.05 parts per million. The water also contained
dangerous levels of zinc, nitrate and iron.

Before the deaths of the babies, all of whom were born
prematurely within months of each other, the residents had felt
the impact of the water pollution through mysterious skin rashes
and ulcers.

Residents believe that a waste-processing company, which began
operating in 1996 and ceased activities in 2000, caused the
contamination to their water supplies. An employee of the company
was sentenced on a separate charge to four months' jail in 2002
for polluting the wells.

Even though the wells were redrilled in 2001 and later tested
safe, many residents including Kosasih are still hesitant to use
the water for anything other than washing clothes and dishes and
bathing.

"I even use bottled water to boil eggs because I am afraid of
more lead getting into my body," she said.

Juju, who said she had suffered from a range of maladies in
her years drinking the water, has tried to move out of Munjul
numerous times.

"I've had many offers for the house but they all withdrew
after finding out that the water had been contaminated," she
said.