City told to act on pollution in bay
City told to act on pollution in bay
Damar Harsanto and Urip Hudiono, Jakarta
Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Rokhmin Dahuri urged
the Jakarta administration on Thursday to promptly resolve the
problem of pollution in the Jakarta Bay, which is killing fish
and harming the industry.
In a media briefing on Thursday, Rokhmin suggested that
Jakartans not consume any fish or clams caught in the bay for the
meantime.
Not ignoring the possibility of toxic waste from industrial
plants as the origin of the pollution, he cited the preliminary
analysis conducted by his office's research center, the Office of
the State Minister of Research and Technology and the Indonesian
Institute of Sciences of the finding of a high level of ammonia
in the sea, possibly due to the red-tide phenomenon.
The red-tide phenomenon is the extreme proliferation of toxic
algae, which usually occurs between seasons when the sea warms
up, which can be identified from the reddening of the sea and the
strong smell of ammonia.
Thousands of fish and clams have died along Jakarta's northern
coast since last week, and the phenomenon reportedly spread to
the Thousand Islands on Wednesday.
Although no dead fish were to be seen in the waters of the
Thousand Islands on Thursday, a manager of a resort island
located northwest of Jakarta Bay said that the waters did appear
more polluted at certain times.
"Currents from the bay sometimes make the waters surrounding
this island very murky," said Bidadari island manager Bambang
Hermanto. "The currents wash up a black, tar-like substance on
our beaches every so often."
Bambang did not know where the pollution came from, but
alluded to the island's proximity to Jakarta's shoreline.
"What is certain is that the situation obviously makes it
difficult for us to keep our beaches clean, and dissuades guests
from bathing in the sea," he said.
Bidadari island is located six kilometers from the mouths of
the Kamal and Dadap rivers, which are lined by industrial plants,
and whose waters are thick with black sludge and have a foul
stench.
Several large vessels, including a tanker, meanwhile, were
anchored in the bay, just kilometers from the island.
The Jakarta Environmental Management Agency (BPLHD) suspected
the cause of the toxic phenomenon in the bay's waters and
immediately sent out a warning to Jakartans against consuming any
fish or clams caught in the bay pending the completion of its
investigation.
North Jakarta Mayor Effendy Anas, however, suggested that the
dead fish and clams were due to a common practice of fishermen.
"The population of fish in the sea is booming. I assume that
the dead fish were dumped by the fishermen after they caught
better fish," said Effendy Anas.
"Today, there is no problem in Jakarta Bay. Yesterday we
released live fish into the sea, and they survived," he claimed,
simply ignoring the advice by the environmental agency.
Damar Harsanto and Urip Hudiono, Jakarta
Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Rokhmin Dahuri urged
the Jakarta administration on Thursday to promptly resolve the
problem of pollution in the Jakarta Bay, which is killing fish
and harming the industry.
In a media briefing on Thursday, Rokhmin suggested that
Jakartans not consume any fish or clams caught in the bay for the
meantime.
Not ignoring the possibility of toxic waste from industrial
plants as the origin of the pollution, he cited the preliminary
analysis conducted by his office's research center, the Office of
the State Minister of Research and Technology and the Indonesian
Institute of Sciences of the finding of a high level of ammonia
in the sea, possibly due to the red-tide phenomenon.
The red-tide phenomenon is the extreme proliferation of toxic
algae, which usually occurs between seasons when the sea warms
up, which can be identified from the reddening of the sea and the
strong smell of ammonia.
Thousands of fish and clams have died along Jakarta's northern
coast since last week, and the phenomenon reportedly spread to
the Thousand Islands on Wednesday.
Although no dead fish were to be seen in the waters of the
Thousand Islands on Thursday, a manager of a resort island
located northwest of Jakarta Bay said that the waters did appear
more polluted at certain times.
"Currents from the bay sometimes make the waters surrounding
this island very murky," said Bidadari island manager Bambang
Hermanto. "The currents wash up a black, tar-like substance on
our beaches every so often."
Bambang did not know where the pollution came from, but
alluded to the island's proximity to Jakarta's shoreline.
"What is certain is that the situation obviously makes it
difficult for us to keep our beaches clean, and dissuades guests
from bathing in the sea," he said.
Bidadari island is located six kilometers from the mouths of
the Kamal and Dadap rivers, which are lined by industrial plants,
and whose waters are thick with black sludge and have a foul
stench.
Several large vessels, including a tanker, meanwhile, were
anchored in the bay, just kilometers from the island.
The Jakarta Environmental Management Agency (BPLHD) suspected
the cause of the toxic phenomenon in the bay's waters and
immediately sent out a warning to Jakartans against consuming any
fish or clams caught in the bay pending the completion of its
investigation.
North Jakarta Mayor Effendy Anas, however, suggested that the
dead fish and clams were due to a common practice of fishermen.
"The population of fish in the sea is booming. I assume that
the dead fish were dumped by the fishermen after they caught
better fish," said Effendy Anas.
"Today, there is no problem in Jakarta Bay. Yesterday we
released live fish into the sea, and they survived," he claimed,
simply ignoring the advice by the environmental agency.