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inance Minister Agus Martowardojo has strongly criticized the British and Dutch governments for allowing hazardous and toxic waste to be shipped to Indonesia.

Speaking to reporters after inspecting 113 containers of hazardous and toxic waste (B3) confiscated by customs officials at the Koja port in North Jakarta on Saturday, Agus said that the British and Dutch governments had violated the Basel Convention by failing to report such shipments to Indonesia.

“If those countries complied with the Basel Convention, they should have reported the shipments to Indonesia because they contained hazardous and toxic waste,” Agus said.

Customs Director General Agung Kuswandono said that 89 containers came from England, while the rest came from the Netherlands. They were allegedly imported by PT HHS.

“All requirements were fulfilled and examiners also said that the containers were allowed to enter Indonesia. However, our officials became suspicious when they opened the containers and found indications of customs law violations,” Agung said.

After further examination, Agus said that customs officials found that the containers mostly held metal scraps containing B3 materials.

Agung said that PT HHS acted as an importer which wanted to recycle the steel.

Environmental Minister Balthasar Kambuata said that metal scraps were not banned from entering
Indonesia.

“However, they must be safe and clean. These look like garbage. Some of them are wet, some are dry and some even drips smelly liquids. These clearly violate the law,” Balthasar said.

 Balthasar said that the Customs Law, the Environmental Protection and Management Law and the Waste Law were all violated.

Agus said that the government would send a letter requesting all documentation for B3 shipments to the British and Dutch embassies. “We want an explanation for the shipments’ outward manifests,” he said.

Agus said that if the outward manifests stated that the shipments contained B3 materials, the exporters should have alerted the Indonesian government.

Despite condemning the shipments, Agus said that the government was currently unable to send the shipments back because authorities were still investigating.

“These [containers] are evidence and this case is being processed. As of now, this case is still under investigation and it will be before … the courts until a final decision is made by the judge,” he said.

Agus urged the police to process the case quickly so the shipments could be sent back to their countries of origin as soon as possible.

“We do not want these toxic materials in Indonesia,” he said. (msa)