Amurang, Ekuatorial – Following complaints from villagers, South Minahasa Environmental Office conducted an investigation towards a local coconut oil company allegedly polluting water, said a senior official, last week.
Known as copra producer area, dozens of coconut oil companies established in South Minahasa, however, local villagers have long suspected that companies have been dumping waste to the river.
“We have been following up [complaints] on alleged contamination from PT Global Coconut and still waiting for laboratory results. We will not compromise with companies polluting the environment,” said Benyamin Poli, head of South Minahasa Environmental Office.
Cheris Warupangkey, a villager of Radey, Tenga subdistrict, South Minahasa district, said that they have been complaining about the company’s activities for too long and demanded the Environmental Office to be more proactive in monitoring.
“To anticipate further environment damages caused by industrial waste, we demand for the Environmental Office or KLH Minahasa Selatan to be more proactive in monitoring companies’ waste water management installation unit (IPAL),” said Warupangkey suspecting that coconut oil companies may have poor waste management leading to environmental damages.
“KLH can not just wait for people’s complaints but they need to be active in monitoring them. This is to anticipate more damages from those waste,” he said adding that the office also need to have firm action if they found companies illegally dump their waste in the river. Yoseph Ikanubun