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Jokowi threatens to revoke permits of firms polluting Lake Toba
The great lake has become a lifeline for the residents who conduct farming and fishing in the area.
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Members of the Medan Indonesian Christian University Students Movement (GMKI) hold a street rally in Medan, North Sumatra, on July 26 to call on the local government to revoke the business permit of alleged Lake Toba polluters. (JP/Apriadi Gunawan)
P
resident Joko “Jokowi” Widodo warned on Tuesday that companies that are found to be polluting Lake Toba in North Sumatra will have their licenses revoked, in a firm warning designed to jump start a clean-up in the world’s largest volcanic lake.
During the first day of his three-day visit to the lake, the President said the government had invested more than Rp 3.5 trillion (US$249 million) to turn the lake into a world-class tourist destination and would not allow this money go to waste.
“The money should be used first to ramp up a total improvement of the lake,” Jokowi said at Sipinsur Park in Humbang Hasundutan regency. “Any construction project done here [at Lake Toba] must not only be for tourism, but also for the sake of the environment.”
He said the government would review and might even revoke permits of polluting companies, especially those operating fish farms in the lake.
The caldera of a supervolcano that erupted thousands of years ago, the great lake has become a lifeline to local residents who engage in agriculture and fishing in the area.
The lake has become a breeding ground for major fish farmers, including PT Aquafarm Nusantara, a subsidiary of the Singapore-based Regal Springs Group, which is among the world’s largest tilapia producers, and PT Suri Tani Pemuka, a subsidiary of poultry conglomerate PT Japfa Comfeed Indonesia. Aquafarm has been cultivating tilapia using floating net cages in Lake Toba for more than 20 years.
The lake has also allegedly become a dumping site for a pork farm operated by PT Allegrindo Nusantara.
