December 5, 2025 | 12:09 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Task Force for Cesium-137 (Cs-137) Hazards Mitigation revealed that PT Peter Metal Technology (PMT) bought radioactive-contaminated scrap metal from domestic suppliers.
"PT PMT acquired as much as 3,448.7 tons of raw materials," said Bara Krishna Hasibuan, the Head of Diplomacy and Communications for the Cesium-137 Task Force, in a written statement on Thursday, December 4, 2025.
PT PMT is a steel smelting firm operating in the Cikande industrial area, Serang, Banten.
It was previously announced that the Cs-137 traces found in the scrap metal melted by PT PMT reportedly spread to several air points in the industrial area. The fine particulate then contaminates factories in the area, including shrimp producer PT Bahari Makmur Sejahtera (BMS).
Bara said the initial investigation into the origin of the scrap metal was conducted by the Directorate of Special Crimes from the National Police's Criminal Investigation Unit. Police investigation found that PT PMT bought all raw materials from suppliers within the country.
The purchasing activities have been tracked since 2024.
In 2024, PT PMT purchased raw materials from 66 suppliers from Jakarta, Banten, Tangerang, and Surabaya. Meanwhile, in 2025, PT PMT bought raw materials from 82 suppliers in Jakarta, Kalimantan, Surabaya, and Sumatra.
In total, PT PMT has purchased about 3,448.7 tons of raw materials.
Bara said that PT PMT began operations in September 2024 and ceased operations in July 2025, with all of the stainless steel it produced being exported to China. In this case, Bara said that the police have seized evidence such as material samples for lab tests.
PT PMT's Industrial Waste Management
Bara said investigators and the Ministry of Environment suspected that the remaining industrial waste in the form of used refractories had not been managed or transported by a third party. Stored in production warehouse, the industrial waste allegedly contains Hazardous and Toxic Materials, or B3 waste.
Furthermore, Bara said PT PMT dumped waste at one of the scrap yards in Cikande. The discovery was revealed from inspections and investigations at one of the scrap yards, suspected to have resulted from PT PMT's production waste.
The police investigators had questioned 40 witnesses: 10 PT PMT personnel, one scrap yard owner, four waste pickers for the scrap yard, 15 raw material suppliers to PT PMT, and six management personnel of the modern industrial area in Cikande.
From the questioning results, Bara stated that the police have named a Chinese national, PT PMT Director Lin Jingzhang, as a suspect.
Bara said Lin Jingzhang has been barred from traveling overseas by the Directorate General of Immigration of the Ministry of Immigration and Corrections.
Despite this, the police continue to investigate other parties suspected of involvement. In this case, the suspect is charged under Article 98 Paragraph (1) and/or Article 103 of Law Number 32 of 2009 Concerning Environmental Protection and Management.
Read: Environment Ministry Seeks Additional Rp28bn for Cesium-137 Remediation
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