Indonesia plans to punish companies for alleged environmental breaches at a huge industrial park that accounts for a large slice of its nickel output, casting a cloud over some of the nation’s largest suppliers.
Environmental violations have been found at the Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park, known as IMIP, according to the Ministry of Environment. Among them, there were alleged failures to manage wastewater, air pollution, and use of unlicensed tailing areas, it said.
Nickel is a metal vital to the global energy transition given its role in batteries, and output from Southeast Asia’s largest economy is a key part of that push. The government’s move marks rare action against the local industry, which accounts for more than half of global production. Indonesia’s metals sector has been plagued by accidents since it began its breakneck nickel expansion a decade ago, while waste management has been a permanent challenge.
Possible penalties on IMIP — a vast park that houses a large number of smelters — could include fines for companies proven to have violated laws, Deputy for Environmental Law Enforcement Rizal Irawan said in a statement, without giving details. An audit of the entire industrial area will also be ordered, he added.
A spokesperson for IMIP didn’t respond to messages seeking comment.
IMIP — owned by Chinese metals giant Tsingshan Holding Group Co. and local miner Bintang Delapan Group — is the product of more than $30 billion in investment. The park, spanning 2,000 hectares (4,942 acres) on Sulawesi Island, employs more than 100,000 staff and contractors.
Local scrutiny of the sector is intensifying, particularly since a protest against nickel mining in Raja Ampat — a marine protected area internationally renowned for biodiversity — gained wide traction on social media.
During its supervision of IMIP, the Ministry of Environment alleged 24 sources of air pollution that did not install continuous emissions monitoring systems, it said in the statement. The park also lacks a communal wastewater treatment plant, which resulted in pollution.
(By Eddie Spence and Annie Lee)
