Polluted Ciliwung kills mounds of fish

Polluted Ciliwung kills mounds of fish

JAKARTA (JP): Thousands of fish were found dead and floating
in the Ciliwung river over the weekend, city environmental
officials reported yesterday.

The head of the city's environmental study and monitoring
office, Ali Rozy, said at City Hall that his office as well as
the city's fishery agency are checking into the incident.

Aboejoewono, the head of the city's environment bureau, said
the sapu-sapu fish, which live in the dirtiest waters, died
suddenly and for no apparent reason.

There are not many industries in the area where the dead fish
were found by a Central Jakarta sanitation team on Sunday, he
said.

"Domestic waste may be part of the cause, leading to a lack of
oxygen," Aboejoewono said.

The team headed by deputy mayor Mora Tua Simamora saw the dead
fish floating from the Kwitang bridge to Jembatan Merah near the
Istiqlal mosque.

An employee at one of the sluices said the dead fish were
found on Wednesday. Dozens of marine officers helped to remove
them from the river.

The last incident of fish dying en masse was recorded in 1994
in Ancol, North Jakarta. The cause was attributed to pollution
and a subsequent "red tide", a phenomenon which cuts off the
river's oxygen supply.

Governor Surjadi Soedirdja said that despite the efforts of
the city's Clean River Campaign, the condition of the river is
still bad.

"Although we don't know the cause, we can safely say that the
social responsibility of industries (in disposing of and managing
their waste) is still low," he said. (anr)