Fish killing pollution now hits Thousand Islands waters
Urip Hudiono and Damar Harsanto, Jakarta
While no further signs of toxic waste were evident at Karnaval beach in Ancol Dreamland Park, North Jakarta, more fish were reportedly found dead in the Thousand Islands waters, north of Jakarta. "Yes, I received a report today that what happened in Jakarta Bay also occurred in Dapur, Damar and Nirwana islets," said head of the Jakarta Environmental Management Agency (BPLHD) Kosasih Wirahadikusumah at City Hall.
Kosasih said he would dispatch his subordinates to the Thousand Islands waters on Thursday morning to investigate the report.
Other signs of a deadly spread of toxic waste were the reddening of the sea and the putrid smell of ammonia.
The BPLHD confirmed the phenomenon that killed fish and clams in Ancol waters had reached Dadap area in Kamal Muara, also on the city's northern coast. The toxic waste also killed fish in farmers' ponds along the coastline.
The agency, however, is yet to single out the party responsible for the pollution, suggesting two possible causes: waste from industrial plants or an extreme proliferation of toxic algae, known as the "red-tide phenomenon".
The Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) has blamed industrial plants located along Jakarta's northern coast for the pollution.
The problem has dealt fishermen a severe blow.
"Today, I only caught five gembung fish (a type of sardine) and an ounce of shrimps," said Sadi, 40, a fisherman who had docked his boat near the steam power electricity plant (PLTU) in Ancol.
Diding, 35, another seafarer, suspected the pollution derived from large vessels that he had often seen dumping liquid waste nearby Ancol.
State Minister of the Environment Nabiel Makarim said there had been increasing reports of companies dumping liquid waste in the sea, ignoring the law that requires industrial companies to process toxic waste before its disposal.
"The more we regulate them (the companies), the more they seek other backdoor ways to dump the waste," he said at City Hall.
As the toxic waste spreads to other areas, the BPLHD maintains its advice to people not to consume fish and clams caught in Jakarta Bay.
The warning raised complaints from Muara Angke fishermen in North Jakarta, who are afraid that it will misinform and drive their customers away.
The fishermen claim they catch fish far out at sea, not in the bay's waters, and that the quantity of fish of their recent catches was normal.
"We usually catch fish in the open sea north of Karawang, West Java," said fisherman Arie on Wednesday, adding that his crew had caught some 600 kilograms of fish a night earlier.