Domestic waste pollution killed the fish: Nabiel

Sari P. Setiogi, Jakarta

Contrary to what Governor Sutiyoso earlier claimed -- that the death of fish and clams in Jakarta Bay in the past month was a natural phenomenon -- a state official revealed on Tuesday the cause as marine pollution related to domestic waste.

"Domestic waste in Jakarta contains a high level of phosphates and nitrogen. These two substances, along with hot weather, rapidly increased the growth of algae," explained State Minister of the Environment Nabiel Makarim at a media briefing.

The algae had absorbed oxygen in the seawater, killing fish and clams in the bay.

Nitrogen found in most rivers and seawater is generated from human feces, while phosphates came from detergent, Nabiel added.

He argued that if the factories located on the capital's north coast were responsible, as claimed earlier by environmentalists and experts, "rivers should be in the same situation as most industrial firms dump their waste into them".

Last Friday, citing the findings of scientists at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), Sutiyoso said algae growth had poisoned the fish. He did not reveal what caused the algae to proliferate, a situation that is known as a red tide phenomenon.

The analysis is also corroborated by the Jakarta Environmental Management Agency (BPLHD), the Jakarta Animal Husbandry Agency, the Jakarta Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Agency, plus the Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB).

The area affected by the red tide extended along the coastline from Kamal beach to Karnaval beach, North Jakarta, encompassing about 50 square kilometers.

Nabiel said such an incident should not happen again in Jakarta and other marine areas close to big cities.

"I hope soon to meet with detergent producers and will suggest to them that they reduce the phosphate content of their products," he said.

In the long run, his office was thinking of installing a relatively sophisticated sewerage system that would minimize marine pollution.

He also warned that a similar incident almost occurred in Ambon, Maluku. "Ambon has similar bay water and I was told that what happened in Jakarta once happened there."

Separately, a postgraduate student of the Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB) said in his dissertation that green oysters caught from Jakarta Bay contained large quantities of heavy metals.

"Regular consumption of such oysters could harm human health," said Isdradjad Setyobudiandi in Bogor, West Java, as reported by Antara.

The habit of washing oysters under running water before consumption had proven to be ineffective, the student asserted.