Firms blamed for river pollution

Multa Fidrus, THE JAKARTA POST, BANTEN  |  Mon, 02/23/2009 11:30 AM 

 

 Black river: The water of the Cirarab river is black and foamy, allegedly due to industrial pollution from the Pasar Kemis industrial area. JP/Multa Fidrus

Thousands of industrial firms in Banten province are believed to be causing environmental damage which has triggered unpredictable weather cycles. 

Based on a recent study conducted by the Banten Environment Care Foundation (Yapelh), some 4,013 industrial firms contribute a great deal to land, air and water pollution. 

“More than that, the polluted land, air and water has become the main source of various kinds of diseases the local residents have suffered from so far,” Uyus Setia Bakti, director of Yapelh, said Saturday. 

He said that only a handful of industrial firms have undergone the legally required environmental impact analyses (Amdal) or have equipped their factories with waste treatment facilities. 

“I think there will be a time when we will no longer be able to get clean water or air,” he said.

According to Yapelh, the heavy metal contents in the water flowing through the Cisadane river had exceeded 400 ug/nm per 24 hours; a safe level is no more than 230 ug/nm per 24 hours. 

“It means that the river has been heavily polluted by industrial waste and such a condition is very dangerous for health,” he said, adding that most of the firms had violated a ministerial decree on the environmentally tolerable limits. 

The Banten provincial administrations has officially called on industrial firms to abide by a 1999 government regulation on pollution control and a 2001 regulation on water quality management and water pollution control. 

The call was made after is was determined that many firms were disposing of their untreated waste into rivers and the sea. 

Last year the Banten Environmental Body (BLHD) caught at least five firms dumping dangerous waste into rivers. The five firms were red and black listed.      

BLHD head Karimil Fatah said the condition of several rivers including the Cisadane, Cidurian, Ciujung, Cimanceuri in Banten was worrying — it is not safe for residents to use the water. 

“The water can only be used during the rainy season but during the dry, the water turns blackish and smelly,” he said. 

Similarly, Aris Mundandar, head of the agency’s pollution control department said that, “almost all water flowing through all rivers in Banten is heavily polluted. It means it can’t be consumed.”

Head of the Tangerang municipal Environmental Body, Erwin Mustika, said the local administration would monitor waste management systems at 100 firms. 

“We have been preparing a team to do the task,’ he said. 

In response to the Banten administration reports that say industrial firms great contributors to the environmental damage, Juanda Usman, the secretary of local Employers’ Association (Apindo) said only industrial firms that did not follow the procedures could be declared as contributors to the environmental damage.  

“Following the procedures means that the firm posses Ipal and Amdal. If all firms followed the procedures, environmental damage would not happen,” he said, adding that the administration must be more assertive towards violating firms. 

He said if the administration is assertive, it would not let industrial firms violate the rules and procedures.