Study on marine pollution

JAKARTA (JP): Norwegian Ambassador to Indonesia Sjur Torgersen handed over a master plan on the prevention and response to marine pollution and marine disasters in Indonesia to the Directorate General of Sea Communications of the Ministry of Communications.

The study was funded by a grant from the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation and conducted by Norwegian Det Norske Veritas in cooperation with the Directorate of Sea Communications.

Torgersen said the study was aimed at the prevention of maritime pollution from ships and offshore drilling activities in Indonesia, encouragement of preparedness in combating pollution from oil spills and implementation of a legal framework to address the exploitation and management of the marine sector here.

The study identified four areas in Indonesia -- the Makassar Strait, Malacca Strait, south coast of Java and Lombok Strait -- as being prone to oil spills due to a heavy flow of sea traffic and an existence of a great number of oil drilling sites. (cst)