Pollution kills fish in Siak river

Pollution kills fish in Siak river

Puji Santoso, The Jakarta Post/Pekanbaru

Villagers should not consume fish from the Tapung Hilir section
of the Siak River in Riau where fish were dying in droves, a
senior government official has warned.

Head of the Riau Environmental Protection Agency, Khairul
Zainal, said a large number of fish had been dying along the
river in Tapung Hilir.

He suspected that the river, which flows through four
regencies and municipalities in Riau, was polluted by heavy
metals and wood pulp from local industries.

"It is not safe to eat the dead fish or to catch and sell the
live fish in the river," Khairul said.

Many people were suspected to have eaten the fish before the
warning was issued but there have been no reports of residents
becoming sick.

Thousands of people rely on the river for bathing, washing
their clothes and fishing.

Khairul said environmental officers had twice gone to the
location where the dead fish were found to take water samples.

"We have yet to receive the final test results from the
laboratory," he said.

However, from the appearance of the water, it was clear there
had been an abrupt drop in water quality, he said.

"The river is certainly polluted."

Khairul said dozens of factories situated along the river,
including pulp and paper mills and the discharge from wrecked
ships were likely sources of pollution.

The local authority had observed sawmills and lathe and
machining workshops dumping sawdust and heavy metal waste into
the river, he said.

The agency would consider taking action against these
companies after it test results were complete, he said.

However, the dying fish were not news to local fishermen in
the area.

Ana, 38, a who lives on the banks of the Siak in Tapung Hilir,
said it had already been a month since he was forced to stop
fishing.

To make ends meet, he has had to switch to searching for wood
in the forests along the river bank, which he sells.

Another fisherman, Syafrial, said about 2.5 tons of dead fish
had been caught in nets recently by local fishermen in the
district some 45 kilometers west of Pekanbaru.

"That's certainly led to less fish in the river," he said.