Ardila Syakriah, Jakarta – The Environment and Forestry Ministry has handed a case pertaining to the illegal dumping of hazardous medical waste in Karawang regency, West Java, by province-owned company PT JM to the Attorney General's Office (AGO) and the Karawang District Court.
The ministry found in 2017 that the medical waste management company had illegally dumped 1,000 tons of waste on its own piece of land for two years and another 457 tons at a regular hazardous waste landfill, instead of in cold storage.
The ministry's director for criminal law enforcement, Yazid Nurhuda, said in a statement received by The Jakarta Post on Saturday that analysis results showed that the waste contained dangerous microbes that could cause respiratory and lung diseases.
"That's why the perpetrator of this environmental crime has to be given the most severe punishment, because not only did it pollute the environment, they also put people's health in danger," he said in a statement.
Investigators from the ministry submitted a list of suspects and evidence to prosecutors on Thursday.
The ministry accused the company of violating Health Ministerial Regulation No. 7/2019 on hospital environment's health, which stipulates that mounds of sharp objects, infectious and pathological medical waste must be destroyed or burned within 48 hours.
Officials from the Environment and Forestry Ministry examine a pile of suspected hazardous medical waste in Karawang, West Java, in this undated photo. (Courtesy of Forestry and Environment Ministry/-)
PT JM collects and manages hazardous waste, especially medical waste from hospitals, across West and Central Java, as well as Greater Jakarta. The company has received a permit from the ministry to operate an incinerator to destroy the hazardous waste.
The company's incinerator reportedly did not have the capacity to manage the waste as regulated.
PT JM officials involved could face up to 10 years' imprisonment for violating Law No. 32/2009 on environmental protection and management.