Five South Kalimantan firms ignore environmentally conscious practice: official

The Jakarta Post 29 Nov 09;

An official at the Environment Ministry has stated that five companies in South Kalimantan have ignored environmental aspects during their work in the province.

Gempur Adnan, the ministry's deputy for environmental pollution monitoring affairs, said Sunday that the firms were state-owned palm oil plantation PTPN 13 Kebun Danau Salak, PT Sinar Kencana Inti Perkasa, pulp firms PT Basirih Industrial Corporindo, PT Hendratna Plywood and PT Daya Sakti Unggul Corporindo.

“They have fallen under the ‘black’ category on the Proper rating system for not making an effort to manage the environment,” Gempur told kompas.com.

He added that 17 firms taking part in a recent environmental test had made no solid effort to better the environment.

“We will try our hardest to ensure the companies pay attention to the environment,” he said. “If they don’t, we will bring them to the court for alleged violation of the environment and may revoke their operational licenses.” (ewd)