Latest oil spill only a rumor, police say

Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Pos, Jakarta

The Jakarta Police asserted they would not go ahead with an investigation into the alleged oil spill in Kepulauan Seribu regency, as it was "a complete rumor".

"Our team of investigators visited the islands, but they did not find any evidence of pollution. Where was the exact location of the oil spill? They did not find any spills... It was only a rumor," city police chief of special crimes Sr. Comr. Edmon Ilyas said over the weekend.

Edmon further said since no officials from the Jakarta Environmental Management Agency (BPLHD) or the Kepulauan Seribu National Marine Park had notified the police over the oil spill that had allegedly occurred early this month, no such case had been opened.

His contradictory statement comes a week after BPLHD and marine park officials revealed that the frequent occurrence of oil spills had damaged the ecosystem and tourism potential of the resort islands, known as the Thousand Islands.

On Oct. 6, marine park head Sumarto called a press briefing over frequent oil spills around Pramuka islet spotted by park rangers.

The rangers first saw eight dolphins swimming frantically as if they were being chased, then they noticed a long, black oil spill behind the dolphins.

A day after, the BPLHD released a report saying that the oil spill was first observed on Oct. 1 around the islands of Kotok Kecil, Kotok Besar, Semadaun, Panggang and Pramuka. The report also indicated that it was the fifth such incident in the area since December.

The marine park management reported that the spill had damaged one-third of the park area, or about 7.7 hectares.

Meanwhile, the BPLHD said 20 groups of fish farmers, 60 groups of seaweed farmers and 100 groups of fishermen had reported losses. The agency also reported that the population of Hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata), which lay their eggs along the coast, had halved.

The Jakarta Tourism Agency further reported that occupancy rates on the resort islands had plunged by an average of 70 percent over the past eight months.

The city police special crimes' environmental unit began investigating the water pollution in Kepulauan Seribu in January.

In Kepulauan Seribu waters, the nearest oil rig belongs to the China National Offshore Oil Company (CNOOC).

They took samples from the polluted area in January and February and from the CNOOC rig in March, promising to announce their results in April.

The police have not revealed the results of their laboratory tests nor have they named any suspects to date.

They say they are still investigating the case and will reveal the results whenever they are asked by the media.

In regards oil spills, a standard operation procedure issued by the oil and gas upstream regulatory agency (BP Migas) stipulates that the nearest oil rig to the site of the spill must take immediate action to contain the spill and clean up the waters and beaches.

CNOOC had financed a clean-up of an oil spill on Dec. 28, 2003, collecting 220 tons -- or 22,000 bags -- of oil and tar balls from 61 islands.