Jepara. Villagers in the Central Java regency of Jepara have expressed outrage over the reckless disposal and incineration of pharmaceutical waste within residential areas earlier this week.

The waste, which includes hundreds of thousands of pills and other discarded medications, was found to contain drugs like Hexymer, commonly used to treat Parkinson’s disease.

Residents in Membak Village, located in the district of Pakis Aji, were disturbed by the foul smell of potentially toxic smoke from the burning chemicals, which began shortly after midnight on Wednesday. Their investigation led to the discovery of pharmaceutical waste near a public cemetery.

"Residents complained about an overpowering smell around 1:00 a.m. As they searched for the source, they found piles of discarded and burned medicines," Rosyid, a village official, said on Thursday.

No one has come forward to claim responsibility for the hazardous disposal of the pharmaceutical waste.

In addition to the burned pills, villagers also discovered intact piles of medical waste, including pills, masks, and syrup bottles, left nearby.

“The amount of burned medical waste is equivalent to a pickup truck, and there’s another pile of unburned waste of roughly the same volume,” Rosyid added.

Village officials have lodged a formal police complaint regarding the incident.

Suhadi, secretary of the Jepara Health Department, confirmed that the waste does not belong to local government hospitals or pharmacies.

"These discarded medicines are not ours. The types of medicines shown in the videos are neither procured nor distributed by the department. Furthermore, we contract a third-party vendor to safely dispose of expired medications," Suhadi said.

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