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| 14 September 2009 08:25:48 |
| BRANTAS RIVER FREE ZONE TO POLLUTE |
| At the watershed level, as part of the water sector reform, Government Regulation (PP) No. 82/2001 superseded PP 20/1990 and places management of urban and municipal water pollution under provincial, district and municipal purview. This PP also allows the levy of effluent discharge fees
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Brantas River is the largest river in East Java Province that stretches along 312 km and the total drainage area is 12,000 km2. The lower segments of the Brantas River are known as the Surabaya River and Mas River.
Surabaya and Gresik City are the two major urban industrial areas in Indonesia. Surabaya metropolitan area is home to over 5 million people, and the largest industrial agglomeration of any non-capital city in Southeast Asia. Recently there are more than 300 industries along Brantas River and most of industries dispose untreated wastewater directly into Surabaya River. The river also supplies raw water for drinking water purpose in East Java.
Industrial development and population growth in East Java province increases environment pressures to Brantas River ecosystem. Increased demand of land for industrial and residential development has force utilization of riparian land that designed as open green area for river protection. Almost 70% of riparian land in Surabaya and Gresik has been converted to developed area for industry and house construction. The riparian function for river protection and water catchments has been destroyed. Other impacts resulted from industrial development in East Java province are environmental pollution, fish killed incidents occur every dry season, crop harvest failures, biodiversity extinction and health disorders in the adjacent community caused by air and water pollution.
As a developing country, Indonesia needs to grow the economy, so that government highest priority is for economic development by promoting industrial investments and natural resource exploitation. Development plan in Indonesia tends to disregard environmental sustainability, for example is the development of hundreds of industries along Surabaya River since 1970 did not consider the river’s carrying capacity to purify the waste water pollutants. At present, regional site plan for Brantas River system is not integrated as one watershed, but it is planned as four separated and independent development unit.
The responsibility for water pollution control belongs to the governor in accordance with Government Regulation (PP) 20/1990 on Water Pollution Control. East Java Provincial Regulation 5/2000, in the interest of the decentralizing authority, makes it possible for the Governor to delegate responsibility to the head of the Provincial Environmental Pollution Control Office (Bapedalda). This agency coordinates all other agencies dealing with water pollution control. The Provincial Public Works Service is responsible for domestic and municipal wastewater and installation of sanitation facilities and Provincial Industry Service is considered responsible for industrial pollution control. Meanwhile, Law 22/1999 further devolves authority to District governments and urban municipalities to deal with their industrial polluters and to handle sewerage and wastewater treatment.
At the watershed level, as part of the water sector reform, Government Regulation (PP) No. 82/2001 superseded PP 20/1990 and places management of urban and municipal water pollution under provincial, district and municipal purview. This PP also allows the levy of effluent discharge fees. The Ministry of Agriculture is to be involved in non-point source pollution from agricultural sources but formally, its regulation is under Ministry of Environment.
In 1990, the Indonesian government established Perum Jasa Tirta (PJT I), a public corporation, to manage and maintain the infrastructure developed under the Brantas Multipurpose Project, and to coordinate management of water resources in the Brantas watershed. PJT I’s activities are financed through fees from industry and hydropower sectors and municipal water suppliers. PJT I’s mandate is to manage water quantity, water quality, conservation, and maintenance of water resources infrastructure. PJT I provides bulk water supply for irrigation systems, raw water for municipal and industrial use, water supply for hydropower plants, manages sand mining services, develops and operates tourism facilities on land and reservoirs under its control in its working area, and carries out consulting services.
The water pollution control implementation in Brantas River is weak. BAPEDAL as environmental management agency in East do not have sufficient power to give punishment to the polluter industries. The industrial operations are facilitated by the government policy to maintain its operation to contribute to economic benefits to the government and providing jobs for the community. Environmental pollution do not consider as important problems that also will threats the sustainability of industrial process. The top leader Governor of East Java province does not have environmental sense to adjust the exploitation rate with natural rehabilitation capacity. The economic and infrastructure development has become the government institutions with strong power that form government policy to maximize environmental exploitation.
Lack of government control to industrial pollution makes Brantas River as a ‘free to be polluted area’. Industries are free to dispose untreated waste water every day. The government inspections usually do not found polluting activity in industries, because some industries only operate the waste treatment when there is government inspection to their waste water disposal. The waste water treatment facilities in most industries are not sufficient to treat all of the waste produces. The capacity of waste water facilities are only one third of total waste water production in some industries. The waste water dispose directly without treatment and the tank blow up incidents often occurred in industries that cause fish kill along Brantas River.
The law enforcement for the polluter industries is not effective due to corruption by some officers in legal institutions. Some legal process for pollution cases often stopped by the police or court, due to lack of evidence, such as the cases of Surabaya River pollution by a paper factory and the decision tend to be unfair since the pollution impacts by the factory is clearly visible and the paddy field used the water has destructed and failed to yield rice. If the case end in court, the result of court decision do not prevent the polluter industry to re-pollute because the fines is very cheap that maximum charge is only IDR 5 million or USD 560. The companies prefer to pay money to the police or pay the fines than to provide a lot more money to build and operate a waste water treatment plan.
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| Pemasuk tulisan: Prigi Arisandi |
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