Save Our Environment

KOMPAS/BENEDIKTUS KRISNA YOGATAMA

A worker sorts through used batteries to be burned in a furnace in Kampung Janada Inpres, Jagabaya village, Parung Panjang district, Bogor, West Java, Monday (20/08/2018). Collecting used batteries without permission and melting them violates the regulation on the management of hazardous waste materials.

A deeply alarming situation was found during Kompas’ investigation into lead pollution, with children as the main victims.

In Cinangka village, Ciampea district of Bogor regency, West Java, Kompas found children with a variety of developmental disorders, including seizures. All are indications of lead poisoning.

Cinangka village has been a center of ç since 1978, recycling used batteries. It is no wonder that lead dust permeated the village, in its air, soil and water – the sources of livelihood for many villagers.

As we know, batteries provide electricity for vehicles. Lead (Pb), the main component of batteries, are highly valued as waste, as it can be recycled into tin. The problem is that not many medium- and large-scale industries – which the government can easily regulate – recycle used batteries. The large-scale collection of used batteries is costly, especially if a business is to be profitable. Consequently, used batteries are often recycled by cottage industries: small-scale businesses scattered across various locations, including remote areas. This is where the problem begins.

Traditional processes of recycling used batteries involve stoves without chimneys or dust collectors. In such conditions, the lead dust is not trapped and instead contaminates the environment and threatens the local children.

It needs to be acknowledged that regulating these illegal smelters is not easy. Overseeing or banning one location will only cause the businesses to move to a new location. Due to their ease of mobility, it is difficult to track those responsible for recovering contaminated environments. A similar problem is also found in small-scale mining, especially of gold, which is no less severe in its mercury pollution.

This presents a test for the government. In Cinangka’s case, for instance, illegal smelters have been recycling used batteries for 40 years, since 1978. Our question is: what efforts have the central and local governments taken to tackle the problem during those four decades? A civil suit against the government is not out of the question, as the 1945 Constitution, specifically Article 28, guarantees a safe and healthy environment for all citizens.

Five years ago, the Environmental and Forestry Ministry launched the Cinangka Clean-Up Project to recover the environment. However, the reality is that it has not resulted in any significant effect.

We need to learn from Vietnam and its government, which launched an environmental recovery program in Dong Mai village in 2008. Similar to Cinangka, many of Dong Mai’s villagers were involved in the environmentally hazardous business of smelting the lead from used batteries.

Educating local residents, cleaning houses, adding new soil and regular monitoring are keys to environmental recovery.