Cilincing fish farmers to get little compensation

Damar Harsanto and Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Fish farmers in Cilincing, North Jakarta, have waited two months for the city administration to compensate them for losses caused by pollution from the city's temporary dump in Rawamalang, and now it seems their wait was not worthwhile.

The assistant to the City Secretary for General Affairs, IGKG Suena, said on Wednesday the administration would pay the fish farmers a total of Rp 270 million (US$31,764) in compensation, a far cry from the Rp 774 million in losses they suffered.

"The amount (of compensation) is based on calculations by the City Fisheries Agency," said Suena.

He could not provide details on when the money would be disbursed.

The coordinator of the 26 fish farmers whose ponds were affected by the pollution, Edy Jubaidi, expressed his disappointment with the announcement.

"Such a small amount only covers the lost fish and shrimp. But if we calculate the costs to clean up the polluted ponds, then the compensation is definitely not enough," he told The Jakarta Post by phone.

Edy said the farmers had to drain their ponds three times before they were clean enough to again breed fish. However, the farmers are still not sure their efforts were sufficient, as the surrounding area, including the water, has been badly polluted.

Azas Tigor Nainggolan of the non-governmental organization Jakarta Residents Forum said the administration should have involved the farmers in calculating the compensation.

The administration closed the dump last month after the Office of the State Minister for the Environment and urban activists began to make noise about pollution in the area resulting from the dump.

The seepage of liquid waste damage fish farms in the vicinity of the dump.

Jakarta Police resources and environmental division chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Ahmad Haydar said his officers had verified that the city administration was working to clear the site of garbage.

"In compliance with the environmental law, the police no longer have to take legal action ... so we decided to stop investigating the pollution case," he said at his office.