Ministry winds up Jakarta Bay probe

JAKARTA: The Office of the State Minister for the Environment says its investigation into pollution that damage coral reefs and mangrove forests in Thousand Islands is almost complete.

"Our investigation is nearly final. We have summoned two expert witnesses for their statements in this case," Dasrul Chaniago, head of the environmental law enforcement division of the office, was quoted as saying by Tempointeraktif.com.

The opinions of the two witnesses from the North Jakarta Tourism Office and Transportation Office, he said, were necessary to finalize the case file.

He promised that the case file would be submitted to the court by the end of this month.

The Jakarta administration alleged earlier that oil spills and tar balls polluting the waters might be from oil rigs operated by the China National Offshore Oil Corporation. --JP.