Fish farmers want city to pay compensation
Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Twenty-four fish farmers in Cilincing subdistrict, North Jakarta, demanded on Wednesday that the city administration provide Rp 340 million (US$40,476) in compensation for polluting their fish farms by dumping waste in a nearby swampland that is the site of Cilincing dump.
The compensation was calculated from the potential profits they estimate to have lost from the pollution. The farmers are also considering a class action against the administration if it does not compensate them for their losses.
State Minister of the Environment Nabiel Makarim and his deputy Darsono, who is in charge of legal affairs, met with the farmers' representatives and promised to help them claim compensation from the Jakarta Administration.
"We hope the administration will pay for our losses. If it refuses to meet our demand, we will file a report with the police," fish farmer Eddy Djubaedi told The Jakarta Post.
Eddy has a 2.5-hectare fish farm and nine hectares of rice fields near Cilincing dump.
Other fish farms have also been affected by liquid waste that has allegedly seeped from the dump since Jakarta started to dump its garbage at Cilincing after it withdrew from Bantar Gebang dump in Bekasi municipality on Jan. 4.
Jakarta and Bekasi finally agreed on Monday to reopen Bantar Gebang and the dump started processing the capital's waste again on Wednesday.
Eddy said the farmers would not be able to farm fish for the next five years due to the pollution. The state minister's office had confirmed earlier that the liquid waste from Cilincing dump had polluted the farmers' fish farms and destroyed their stock.
The city administration has denied the allegations.
Darsono said the office would follow up the reports by investigating the problems the fish farms were facing.
The results of the investigation will provide evidence to support the farmers' demand for compensation from the capital, he said, while strengthening an earlier report that showed pollution at the farms.
"We are ready to facilitate talks between the farmers and the capital," he said, adding that the office would help farmers to file a class action, if necessary.
Darsono said the office had also considered taking the Jakarta Administration to court for damaging the environment around Cilincing dump.
The state minister's office is authorized under Law No. 23/1997 on environmental protection to take legal action against those causing environmental damage.
Jakarta Residents Forum (Fakta) chairman Azas Tigor Nainggolan said the police could investigate into the allegations of environmental damage under the Environmental Law, and hoped they would take an active stance in the matter.