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View all search resultsNearly 100 residents relocated from radioactive red zones in Serang
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Cleaning up: A member of the Radiation Contamination Mitigation and Handling Task Force operates a heavy vehicle on Monday, October 20, amid Cesium-137 decontamination efforts at the Modern Cikande Industrial Estate in Serang regency, Banten. Authorities have removed nearly 250 tonnes of material contaminated with Cesium-137 from the Cikande industrial hub while residents are being relocated. (Antara/Angga Budhiyanto)
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early a hundred residents in Cikande district in Serang regency, Banten, have been evacuated from their homes as the decontamination process continues in the area following a radioactive leak that prompted national attention.
The Environment Ministry’s task force in charge of cleaning up Cesium-137 (Cs-137), a man-made radioactive isotope, has recently relocated 91 residents from two of Cikande’s designated “red zones” after Cs-137 was found in food products coming from the district’s Industrial Estate earlier this year.
Task force head Rasio Ridho Sani said the relocation was part of ongoing decontamination of the 22 factories located inside the district.
“We continue to accelerate our decontamination effort,” Rasio said on Monday, as quoted in a press release from the ministry. “In addition to the 22 factories, decontamination is also being carried out at 12 other locations where Cs-137 has been detected, including vacant land, stalls and residential areas.”
The radioactive cleanup effort came after the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) detected in August the Cs-137 isotope in a sample of frozen shrimp and in September in cloves imported from Indonesia, prompting the agency to impose new certification requirements for Indonesia’s exported shrimp and spices.
The government has since suspended several production facilities in Serang and formed a task force to inspect and decontaminate areas around the Cikande Industrial Estate.
Read also: Govt rushes to clean up cesium-137 spill in Banten
