Mysterious mud-like ooze causes alarm for locals

Mustaqim Adamrah , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Sat, 07/05/2008 12:21 PM | City

Secretions of a viscous mud-like liquid from a dried riverbed along the Tanjungan River in Kamal Muara, North Jakarta, have been reported to the Jakarta Crisis Center.

Endi, an officer at the center, said the discharge was reported by Kamal Muara subdistrict head Tambah Suhadi.

"There is a liquid being emitted from the riverbed," he said.

Residents said the discharge first started on Sunday, online news portal tempointeraktif.com reported.

Yulianto, head of the subdistrict's public facilities division, said the initial secretions had created a deposit 10 centimeters in diameter.

"But the deposit's diameter has now expanded to 50 centimeters," he said as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.

Iswardi Mudahan, head of the North Jakarta environmental management board, confirmed the occurrence and said he had informed the city environmental management board of it.

He said the liquid "is not completely mud".

"It is likely murky water. It's similar in color to water from the river, but far more viscous," he told The Jakarta Post.

He said the liquid was being discharged quite quickly, forming a fountain 15 to 20-centimeters-high, and was centered in a small pit in the dry riverbed.

Iswardi said samples of the liquid would be examined to determine what it was and why it was being discharged.

"We took the samples on Thursday, a day after receiving the subdistrict head's report," he said.

"Hopefully lab tests will be complete within 15 days. In the meantime, my office and the subdistrict office will continue monitoring the river."

He said the liquid had no identifying odor or color that would suggest an underground gas leak.

"There was no fire when we tried igniting it, so this indicates the discharge is not being caused by a gas pipe leak," Iswardi said.

"Also, I had no allergic reactions to it when I applied it to my skin."

He said a possible cause for the discharge could be a burst underground water pipe.

"We're trying to find out whether any part of the tap water network runs through this particular area," he said.

City Secretary Muhayat said he believed the discharge "was possibly prompted by a gas pipe leak".

"But we need to investigate further," he told the Post.

The discharge has attracted large crowds of onlookers, causing traffic jams along Jl. Kapuk Kamal Raya on Friday.

Local residents said they were concerned the discharge could be similar to that which caused the massive mudflow in Sidoarjo, East Java, and said they were worried about the possible danger to the neighborhood.

"We are obviously worried. We hope city officials can survey the situation and resolve it," said Satiri, a local resident, as quoted by beritajakarta.com.

"We have reported it to the police but they haven't done anything. I think a police line should be set up around it, just in case it becomes dangerous for people in the vicinity."

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