Sunday, August 07, 2005

Bojong, Indonesia - Residents who live near the Bojong waste treatment plant have clashed with police for the eighth time since the plant was constructed in 2002. Residents are trying to keep the plant from opening because of the amount of pollution it will create. Police tried unsuccessfully to remove barricades demonstrators set up around the plant, but were held back by molotov cocktails and other projectiles. Police did not fire on the demonstrators, as they have in the past, and no arrests where made. The government has softened it's position on the facility in the face of determined opposition. They are now asking residents to allow them to conduct a trial run of the plant to prove that it will not produce hazardous pollutants. Residents, however, are refusing to compromise on their position - the plant must go.