Purwakarta's Poisonous Pipeline

Enraged residents forced the closure of an overflowing rayon plant waste disposal site. The waste water now flows directly into paddies and nearby rivers.

March 11, 2003

In the drizzle of an overcast sky, Sa'i sits lazily on the narrow path encircling his square plots of paddies. Occasionally puffing his cigarette, the 70-year-old farmer cuts a gloomy figure.

Like other farmers living in Cilangkap Village, in the district of Babakan Cikao, Purwakarta, West Java, Sa'i was helpless to halt the stinking black liquid waste from inundating his paddy field.

The dark liquid flows from a pipeline of PT Indo Bharat R

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