The West Jakarta public order agency shut off Monday water pipes of deep wells belonging to companies involved in the garment manufacturing industry in Sukabumi Selatan subdistrict, Kebon Jeruk.

The garment treatment business uses thousands cubic litres of water everyday from wells they have personally drilled and not water supplied by the tap water company PT PAM Lyonnaise Jaya, Hendra Hidayat, deputy head of Kebon Jeruk district, West Jakarta, said.

On Monday, the first day of the operation, two teams, each with 25 public order officers, were sent with officials from the Sukabumi Selatan subdistrict office, Kebon Jeruk district office and West Jakarta municipal office, to shut off the wells of five companies, the first of 48 targeted in the operation.

Hendra said the garment companies have committed at least three violations: overuse of groundwater, generating chemical pollution in the air and dumping tons of untreated liquid waste into the river.

“Don’t forget that they have been doing these damaging acts for years, as many have been in business since 1985,” Hendra said.

Sukabumi Selatan has dozens of jean enterprises - including many home industries - that depend on the chemical treating companies to ‘launder’ the garments with substances to soften and color the jeans.

Wawan, a staff member of CV Saudara, an operation with 80 workers, said the business had run for almost 20 years. He said he was worried about the future of the business after the closure of their well.

Wawan said the reason they did not use tap water was because the water pressure was too low.

A representative of PT PAM Lyonnaise Jaya, who was present at the raid, said Saudara subscribed to their services as a household and not an industry. “This made a big difference in their water quota,” he said.

“We have warned the garment business owners since October, several companies have been closed down, and we have held many meetings with them since,” Hendra said.

“They have breached many regulations. From an environmental viewpoint they have done so much damage. From permit side, they don’t have business permits,” he added.

But he said the authorities understand the industry has provided a source of income for local residents, “That was why we took careful measures and have given room for them to improve - through dialogues - before the administration applies hard lessons, such as today.”

During his visit to the area Sunday, Governor Fauzi Bowo said, “The garment laundry owners should pay careful attention to water usage.” He cited the example of a beer company in West Jakarta, where the ground had subsided 1.5 meters due to its overuse of water. (iwp)

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