Steel Factories Struggle with Raw Materials
Thursday, 23 February, 2012 | 18:23 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta:Some 2,000 old metal containers being held at Tanjung Priok Port while be verified for allegedly containing dangerous and poisonous waste could see some steel factories experience raw material shortages.

“The problem is, we have thousands of tons of containers. Must they be verified one by one?” asked Industry Minister M.S. Hidayat yesterday. He suggested a sampling system and agreed that imported metal containing dangerous and poisonous substances must be returned to its origin country.

Currently, Indonesia can only produce 30 percent of old metal required so the rest is imported. Hidayat called for a percentage tolerance in regard to the dangerous and poisonous substance limit.

His comments were in response to Law no.32/2009 on Environmental Protection and Management, which mandates zero tolerance. “I want us to be pro-environment, but we shouldn’t stop production processes,” he said.

GADI MAKITAN