Residents of Watusalam Village, Pekalongan Regency, Central Java suspect law enforcement officers to be the backers of the PT Panggung Jaya Indah Textile (Pajitex) factory so they are selective in carrying out legal processes related to waste pollution cases. This was conveyed by several residents when they received a visit from members of the DPR and Deputy Chair of the MPR Arsul Sani in Watusalam Village, Pekalongan, Tuesday (21/12). The resident recounted two legal cases in which each dragged the name of one of the managers of the company PT. Pajitex namely Agung Triyanto as the reported case of waste pollution and two villagers namely Abdul Afif and Kurohman as reported cases of vandalism.

In the pollution case that dragged the name of Agung Triyanto, who is currently a defendant, Pekalongan Police investigators initially only used articles 103 and 104 of Law Number 32 of 2009 concerning Environmental Protection and Management, which carries a penalty of 3 years in prison.

In addition, residents said, from the beginning he became a suspect until the case was in the hands of the prosecutor and had undergone a trial, he had never been arrested.
On the other hand, in the case of the destruction of a factory, which caused a loss of less than 500 thousand rupiah, residents named Abdul Afif and Kurohman as suspects were arrested by the police. The police also wore it under the suspicion of Article 170 of the Criminal Code with a penalty of 5 years in prison.

"Here, the reality has been reversed, sir. We are small people who have been harmed by pollution and have been policed and detained. Meanwhile, the perpetrators of waste pollution have only been processed with minor offenses without being detained by the police. In fact, residents have been complaining about waste pollution for a long time. to the Regency Government and the Police, until now there has been no result. Until now, you can see how the condition is due to the pollution. Is it possible that the authorities turned out to be the backing of the factory?" said one resident to Arsul who is also a member of Commission III of the DPR RI

Another thing that made the residents more disappointed was that when the vandalism case was reported, the Police initially offered a Restorative Justice (RJ) solution. However, as soon as two residents appeared admitting to be the perpetrators, the police immediately continued the legal process and detained them.

"We, the residents here are disappointed with the police. Even though the direction of the National Police Chief Mr. Listyo Sigit is clear, as much as possible there is Restorative Justice, but what happened here, the residents were lied to by the police. Our two colleagues who appeared admitted throwing small stones until the Pajitex window broke, the loss did not reach 500 thousand, finally the police took him into custody," added another resident.

The Executive Director of YLBHI-LBH Semarang, Eti Oktaviani, who provided assistance, confirmed all the complaints made by the residents of Watusalam Village to Arsul Sani.

"In this case, it is not only the police who we consider selective, but also the government. Just imagine, the residents who are suffering from pollution are even asked to make amends with the perpetrators of pollution. There is no sense," said Eti.

His party also admitted that it was ironic at the request of several officials, including the Pekalongan Regent's Expert Staff, who asked residents not to hold demonstrations and make up with PT. Pajitex. His party considered that the Pekalongan regency government had neglected the complaints and sufferings of the residents over the pollution of Pajitex.

Hearing the complaints of a number of residents of Watusalam Village, Arsul Sani promised to support the residents of Watusalam Village to fight for a good and healthy environment. Asrul also stated that he would facilitate a meeting between residents accompanied by LBH Semarang and the Director General of Gakkum, Ministry of Environment and Forestry (KLHK) to report allegations of environmental pollution by PT. Pajitex.

Meanwhile, regarding the suspicion of the police being backers or the presence of naughty police officers, Arsul Sani will convey it to the National Police Chief General Listyo Sigit and ask residents to report directly to Arsul Sani's personal number.

"We are here to help the residents of Watusalam Village to get the right to a healthy environment. We will facilitate residents to meet with the Director General of Law and Human Rights of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry regarding the pollution case. LBH please accompany us. For allegations of backing or naughty police officers, we will continue to sir Chief of the National Police. I hope residents can continue to report directly to my personal number," Arsul promised.