Fish killing pollution now hits Thousand Islands waters

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.