Pollution drives local fishermen to other jobs

Pollution drives local fishermen to other jobs

JAKARTA (JP): Most traditional fishermen in the Seribu Islands
have moved here and surrounding towns because they could no
longer eke out their living in the polluted sea, chairman of the
Network for Forest Conservation in Indonesia has said.

"Up to know there are around 5,000 fishermen from the Seribu
Islands that are trying to make ends meet in Jakarta and its
surrounding areas, " S. Indro Tjahjono told The Jakarta Post in
his office yesterday.

They work in these towns as laborers, servants and vendors,
said the chairman of the non-governmental organization.

According to Indro 70 percent of the island fishermen have
moved to the urban centers while the rest are still trying to
survive on the islands, which is located in Jakarta Bay.

"Those who remain are mostly working for excursion boats or
serving better-equipped fishermen who come from other areas," he
said.

Indro said pollution has reduced the quantity of fish in the
area and traditional fishermen have lost their source of income.

The pollution, he said, has been caused by industrial wastes
and non-degradable waste city residents dump into the rivers,
which later end up in the sea.

"Mud sediment from the rivers has also worsened the
condition," he added.

The Seribu group, consisting of 114 islands, has been badly
polluted since 1980, Indro said.

In his opinion, the problem remains unsolved because there are
so many ministries want a say in the management of the bay area.

They are, among others, the Ministries of Forestry, Defense
and Security, Tourism, Transportation, Environment, as well as
the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), he said.

Explosives

"Officials of the ministries have never met to discus the
problem. Instead they apply their own policies there," Indro
said.

The fate of the remaining fishermen living on Seribu Island
has even worsened because fishermen from outside are operating
there using explosives.

Semaun Hambali, one of the fishermen who still tries to
survive in the islands, said in a written statement that these
people are destroying coral reefs and killing fish.

He said this is dangerous because coral reefs are vital for
the fishermen because fishes live around them.

"By destroying the reefs they also decimate fish for the
future," he said.

Semaun said the 200 security personnel assigned by the
government to guard the 114 islands are not enough.

"The authorities should involve local fishermen in the drive
to stop people using explosives because we know where the coral
reefs are," he said. (03)