City Council to tackle oil slicks, waste polluting sea

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Wed, 06/14/2006 1:43 PM  |  Jakarta

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Irked by the state of Jakarta's beaches and sea, the City Council has urged the city administration to immediately deal with the garbage and oil slicks polluting the area.

The deputy head of the council's Commission D for development, Mukhayar Rustamudin, said a waste-management project that specifically addressed sea pollution would be established by the year's end.

""We have passed the city administration's proposal for Rp 10 billion for the project on the shores of Jakarta and Kepulauan Seribu regency,"" he said Tuesday.

Mukhayar said the money would be used to fund feasibility studies on a waste-management system in the area and to buy equipment as well as to fund the operation.

The project will be in the hands of the city sanitation agency.

Kepulauan Seribu Regent Djoko Ramadhan has often said the marine ecosystem of the islands in his jurisdiction -- which were once a prime holiday destination -- has been gradually destroyed by oil spills over the years. He blames the spills on big industries in North Jakarta, vessels and offshore oil fields.

""The losses suffered by the tourism industry can be calculated but the destroyed marine ecosystem was priceless,"" he said Tuesday at City Hall after meeting with Governor Sutiyoso.

He said pollution had affected around 65 to 70 kilometers of the islands' shores.

Djoko said he had received reports from the State Ministry for the Environment that samples taken from the oil slicks matched samples from nearby oil reserves.

""My question is, why has no legal action been action?""

Mukhayar said nobody could blame the pollution of the sea on the existing waste management system.

He said the city administration had installed ""filters"" in several sluices to stop garbage from being washed into the sea.

""We should blame it on the people who are not yet in the habit of properly disposing of their household waste; who are still throwing it into city waterways. Especially people who live on riverbanks, in close proximity to the filters,"" he said.

Mukhayar said residents should start making compost and selling their paper and plastic waste to scavengers.

Commission D head Sayogo Hendrosubroto said neighboring provinces should also play a part in sea pollution control.

""Unfortunately there is no coordination between Jakarta and the neighboring Banten and West Java provinces, while they are clearly contributing to the problem, because their polluted rivers flow directly into Jakarta Bay,"" he said. (10)

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