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."