"MU allegedly violated the Environment Law and Forestry Law, and we are enforcing the law by imposing many sanctions," Rasio Ridho Sani, the director general of environment and forestry law enforcement, noted during a press conference held at the Environment and Forestry Ministry office here on Friday.
The perpetrator, with the initials MU, was named as a suspect for dumping waste in a social forest in Parungmulya Village, Karawang District, on July 27, 2022.
MU was sanctioned under several articles, including Article 98, Section 1, and Article 104 of Law Number 32 of 2009 on Environmental Protection and Management. If found guilty, MU could be imprisoned for 10 years, with maximum fine of Rp10 billion.
The perpetrator was also sanctioned in accordance with Law Number 41 of 1999 on Forestry that had been revised with Law Number 11 of 2020 on Work Creation, Juncto Article 78, section 2, part a, with a maximum jailtime of 10 years and fine of Rp7.5 billion.
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Sani spoke of having already given directives to his personnel to pursue the case further and urged investigators to screen other parties that are involved in the management of forest areas.
The head of the Java, Bali and Nusa Tenggara law enforcement agency at the ministry, Taqiuddin, said during the press conference that the crime scene was rather far from human settlements. According to investigation, there were 0.18 hectares of waste.
At that location, there were several types of dangerous waste, such as medical equipment, chemical bottles, electronics, and expired medicines.
They also found a banner that mentioned the perpetrator's name as the manager of that waste dumping area.
"Next, of course, we will attempt to conduct recovery in collaboration with related directorates," he concluded.
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Translator: Prisca T V, Mecca Yumna
Editor: Suharto
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