For ADVERTORIAL - May 27

For ADVERTORIAL - May 27

In Mimika: Former tailing area turns to fish cultivation

After finishing high school in 1994, Viktor Joku's aspirations were to become a civil servant with the local fisheries office in Jayapura, just like his father.

He strongly believed that being a civil servant would guarantee him a proper and stable income.

So every year, from 1995 till 2000, he diligently signed up for the necessary entrance tests. But his hopes turned to ashes because he always failed the tests for reasons unbeknown to him.

Misfortunes, however, always appear to carry with them certain messages, because if it were not for them, Viktor, now a field observer, would not be working with the floating freshwater cultivation project in Timika, Mimika's capital, in southern Irian Jaya.

His project, as Viktor tells it, is far bigger than the one in operation on Sentani Lake, about an hour away from Jayapura.

"The longer I work here the better, I like it. I would not even think about becoming a civil servant again," he says. He is also beginning to realize that what he is doing is not just cultivating fish; because his job has far reaching, long-term benefits to the regency of Mimika.

The carp and indigo fish being cultivated on the float have now become regular food for employees of PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI) since last December. An average 50 kilograms of freshwater fish is sold daily. The breeding area is also the site of PT Freeport's copper mine operations.

Not many are aware that the freshwater fish they are eating actually originate from a cultivation project run by PTFI and the Mimika Fishery Office in a canal that flows through a former tailing deposition area.

Tailing is finely ground rock waste material that is left by the metal concentrate separation process. In the case of PTFI, the metal contents of their concentrates are copper, gold and silver.

In partnership between PTFI and the fisheries office, PTFI provides the facilities, funds and technical assistance with the fisheries office providing manpower, fishing resources and technical assistance; Sentani for that matter has now become a fish breeding ground.

Wisnu Susetyo PhD, vice president of PTFI's environmental division, explained that the freshwater project is part of the company's environmental reclamation efforts.

The fish project, he continues, is a long-term solution for tailing reclamation. Wisnu guarantees the fish are safe for human consumption. Tests to this effect have been conducted by the Timika Environmental Lab, using equipment and facilities worth US$3 million and operated by PTFI's environmental division since 1994.

The Mimika Fisheries Office assesses the freshwater fish project as being more than just a solution for tailing reclamation. "The presence of the project encourages the community to do the same, as it clearly proves it is not claptrap, instead it is workable and clearly productive," says Wesley Simanungkalit, head of Mimika's Fisheries Office.

Another member of the fisheries office, Haryadi Nugroho, finds the project very productive. "Cultivating fish in floating tanks has been in practice for a long time already in Irian Jaya, but never with such high productivity." One area in Sentani is capable of producing between 150 and 160 kilograms in two weeks, while in Timika a similar area produces only 50 kg per day.

Cultivating fish on former tailing areas is advantageous because of the strong flow of water due to the high rainfall. Flowing water, explains Hayadi, carries natural food for the fish in addition to their supplementary food. Moreover, the project's success is also attributed to good management.

Haryadi feels lucky to have dedicated employees like Viktor Joku. It was Haryadi who persuaded Viktor to work for the project in Timika. "My first hands-on experience with freshwater fish breeding was when I worked with the Jayapura fisheries office as a temporary worker," tells Viktor. At that time, his job consisted of feeding the fish, repairing the nets and moving the fish from one tank to another, depending on the size of the fish and when they were sick and needed treatment.

In view of current progress, it would not be excessive to suggest PTFI's environmental division and the Mimika fisheries office set fixed production targets at five tons per month, starting at the end of this year. Their main market is the catering service suppliers to PTFI who provide meals for thousands of workers and their families within the company and the general public. Actual demands have reached twice the production levels above.

To increase production, the project is adding more floating tanks, utilizing the former tailing area as ponds and providing more young fry. The fisheries office and PTFI also plan to breed other animals like lobsters, as well as decorative fish. But a more important target with a more long lasting effect is the job opportunities fish-breeding creates for the local community. The fisheries office and PTFI in this respect is encouraging staff and leading figures of LEMASA and LEMASKO to visit and learn from the project. Amungme and Kamoro are the two major tribes in the Mimika regency, but others outside these two tribes are welcome to see for themselves on Saturdays and Sundays.

The fisheries office has also built freshwater ponds in various villages to function as examples for the community. In addition, eight people from the Amungme, Kamoro and Dani tribes have also been sent to Sukabumi in West Java to study freshwater fish breeding in coastal areas. The results have started to materialize as some of the eight now have their own breeding ponds. One of them even owns a special breeding, cultivation pond, which is anticipated to supply young fry to PTFI and the fisheries office's floating tanks.

Manungkalit says it needs time for the locals to change their thinking pattern from inactive to pro-active and to make use of the wide choice of opportunities available in Mimika, either in he fishery business or somewhere else.

Building the infrastructure for freshwater fish cultivation, Manungkalit emphasizes, is not easy or cheap. The fishery sector is the lowest on the list of government priorities, because other types of infrastructure like roads take precedence, and because building the infrastructure for fishbreeding in Irian Jaya is extremely costly. "All the more so in the coastal areas. The plans are there, but the undertaking is very expensive" says Manungkalit. He is hopeful, though, that with the autonomy laws becoming effective, the fisheries sector will also receive more money.

Apart from all the above mentioned obstacles, the fisheries office, as well as PTFI, remain highly optimistic with regards to the future of fish cultivation in general in Mimika. "Market potential within Freeport's borders, as well as outside in Timika, is very good," Haryadi says.

It is also not excessive to say that Viktor Joku has higher aspirations than being just an employee with a pilot project. He wants to become the number one freshwater fish breeder in Timika.

"In a job you can always cherish high hopes for the future. Even now, we can see that the project is growing by the day."