City rivers provide fish, garbage for diehards

Fishing is a good way to alleviate stress. But what about fishing in the rivers of Jakarta? You catch either fish or garbage, but some people still enjoy it.

Ongky Honedy, a salt company employee, said Citarum River in Bekasi was a nice place to practice the hobby he’s enjoyed for the last 35 years.

“For me, this is the best way to spend my free time on the weekends,” Ongky, 48, told The Jakarta Post.

He prefers fishing at Citarum River because it is the only river with good fish, he said.

“If I fish at other rivers in Jakarta, I can only get catfish or sucker fish,” Ongky added.

At Citarum River, Ongky catches various kinds of fish such as white goldfish, and shrimp.

Ongky and his friend were not the only ones fishing in the area. Others were seen patiently waiting for fish to be attracted by their bait.

“This river is polluted from the waste from paper factories in the area, so the fish population is decreasing,” he said.

According to Ongky, in the 1980s he could catch up to 50 kilograms of fish and shrimp, while now his catch amounts to only a few kilograms.

“With less fish now, I only go fishing from 9 a.m to 11 a.m.

“Back then I could stay from morning until evening,” the father of two said.

With so much trash in the river, Ongky’s bait sometimes snags on the garbage.

Kewedy Tan, who fishes at Bukit Duri River, East Jakarta, said it was difficult to catch fish due to the worsening pollution of the river.

“There are many houses along the riverbank so the river is no longer a good spot for fishing,” he added.

Kewedy, 45, said sometimes he could only catch one catfish and one 20 centimeter sucker fish after fishing for four hours.

“I am not doing this for money. I only want to kill time,” he said.

For bait Kewedy uses earthworms, which he gets from a drain in front of his house in Kampung Melayu, East Jakarta.

“I think this river has more garbage than Citarum River. I have to switch my bait many times to catch fish.

“Garbage often gets stuck on my bait,” he said.

There are 13 rivers in Jakarta, which are mainly used to flush human sewage.

The presence of sewage increases the level of E. coli bacteria in the water, making the fish living in that water dangerous for human consumption.

“I usually fry the fish that I get from Bukit Duri River,” Kewedy said.

He added that he was not afraid of unhygienic food.

“My body is ‘immune’ to that kind of food,” he said, laughing. (not)