Indonesia to ship toxic waste back to Britain, US, NZ & Australia

Jumat, 25 Desember 2020 08:57 WIB

The Indonesian government will ship back 79 containers of industrial raw materials found containing toxic and hazardous waste (B3) to Britain, the United States, New Zealand, and Australia. ANTARA/HO-Kementerian Luar Negeri RI

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Indonesian government will ship back 79 containers of industrial raw materials containing toxic and hazardous waste (B3) to Britain, the United States of America, New Zealand, and Australia, the Indonesian Foreign Ministry stated on Thursday.

According to a written statement issued by the ministry, the reshipment of raw materials containing B3 waste is scheduled for completion by the end of January, 2021.

"Based on the Basel Convention (on the Control of the Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal), the import (of goods) containing B3 waste is not allowed. Therefore, the Indonesian government must reship them to the countries of origin," director general of America and Europe at the Foreign Ministry, Ngurah Swajaya, said.

He made the remarks during a virtual meeting with representatives of the embassies of the four countries on Wednesday.

At the meeting, the representatives from the four embassies responded positively to the Indonesian government's policy.

"The representatives of the four embassies pledged to cooperate with the Indonesian government in re-exporting containers containing B3 waste," Swajaya said.

The 79 containers are among the 107 containers that were seized by the Indonesian government after it was found they contained hazardous waste. The remaining 28 containers are still being rechecked, the ministry said.

The verification of every container entering Indonesia is carried out by a number of ministries, including the Environment and Forestry Ministry, the Trade Ministry, the Industry Ministry, the Finance Ministry, the National Police, and the Foreign Affairs Ministry. (INE)

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