Offshore sand mining angers Tirtayasa residents
Multa Fidrus, Tangerang
"Since the sand mining began, my husband has not been able to catch as many fish as before and his income has dropped. My sons have even had to stop going to school because we can't afford the fees anymore," said Minah, a resident of Lontar village in Tirtayasa district, Serang regency, Banten.
The 34-year-old mother of four is just one of hundreds of residents along the coast of Banten who claim to have suffered damages because of sand mining by PT Jetstar.
According to Minah, before the sand mining began, her husband, Matsin, 35, was able to bring home at least Rp 20,000 (US$2.22) a day. But in the past six months, Matsin has earned only Rp 5,000 a day and sometimes nothing.
"All we want is for the regency administration to stop the sand mining," she said.
A recent survey by the Banten Earth Conservation Center found the water in the Banten Gulf was so polluted that farmers could no longer use it to fill their fishponds, leaving at least 60,000 fishponds unproductive.
The survey also said that sand mining had seriously damaged the coastal environment, had increased social and economic problems and could submerge three islets in the gulf in the next four to five years. Sand mining, according to the survey, had also damaged coral reefs and marine life and altered tidal movements.
Residents say they have repeatedly complained to the administration to halt the sand mining, but that Serang Regent Bunyamin has turned a deaf ear to their complaints. Residents rampaged through the regent's office last week, though Bunyamin was not present at the time.
PT Jetstar obtained a permit from the regency administration in 2001 to carry out the sand mining.
Calls have increased for the administration to revoke the permit, but one administration official, Martedjo, said there were concerns PT Jetstar would file a lawsuit if that happened.
The administration has, however, issued an order to the company to temporary halt its sand mining activities.
PT Jetstar president Henry Hartono is angry about the order, which he said has caused his company more than Rp 600 million in losses, and has threatened to sue the administration.
The chairman of Banten Council's Commission D on development affairs, Suwarno, said the council had received reports of environmental damage allegedly caused by the sand mining.
"We have asked the Banten Environmental Impact Management Agency to study the impact of the sand mining. We have already received (unofficial) reports that the sand mining has damaged the environment in the gulf.
"We will wait for the results of the agency's study, which we will use as our basis to decide whether or not to recommend the revocation on the sand mining permit."