SIDOARJO - The Ministry of Environment (LH) will soon take firm action against tofu-making Small and Medium Industry (IKM) players in Tropodo Village, Krian District, Sidoarjo Regency, East Java, who still use plastic waste as factory fuel.
"There have been efforts to provide guidance through circulars and warning letters from the local government, but this continues so that we support law enforcement against environmental damage caused by unscrupulous IKM perpetrators to know this," said Deputy for Law Enforcement of the Ministry of Environment Inspector General of Police (Irjen Pol) Rizal Irawan in Sidoarjo, Saturday.
In front of the Acting Governor of East Java Emil Elestianto Dardak, and the Regent of Sidoarjo Subandi, as well as the Sidoarjo Regional Leadership Coordination Forum (Forkopimda) and the IKM representative knew about it, Rizal said that the air quality in the area around the related factory had entered the unhealthy category.
This was concluded after the Ministry of Environment took samples of air and water in the relevant areas some time ago.
Rizal explained that the parameters of total particulates and the content of carbon monoxide substances have entered the unhealthy category and are at risk of causing ARI disease among residents.
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In addition, the microplastic content in the air from the burning of plastic waste can also increase the risk of local communities contracting skin cancer.
Rizal admitted that his party received information that the use of plastic waste was cheap compared to the use of firewood which had become the standard fuel for tofu factories in various places in East Java.
"If you use firewood, the IKM perpetrators know that they still have to buy and pay, while if you use plastic waste you can get it cheaply and even for free," said Rizal.
For this matter, Rizal emphasized that he would immediately enforce the law for unscrupulous IKM actors who still use plastic waste as factory fuel.
He said he would take action against factory owners who did not comply with the rules and would also arrest the suppliers of plastic waste to these individuals.
Rizal said the Sidoarjo City Police (Polresta) had also shown their commitment and would immediately close the operations of factories that still did not comply with the rules.
Meanwhile, the Director of Air Quality Protection and Management of the Ministry of Environment and Environment Control Agency (BPLH) Nixon Pakpahan said that from the monitoring of the team around the tofu industrial center, black smoke was still visible rising from the steam craters of the tofu factory.
"As of this afternoon, we are still monitoring that there are several points of smoke from the tofu factory that are seen emitting black smoke from the burning of garbage," said Nixon.
He explained that the dangers of burning plastic waste not only disturbs local residents but can also spread to other areas so that it can increase the risk of disease to the wider community.
He asked the public to immediately switch to using firewood to reduce the risk of the impact of burning the plastic waste.
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