Authorities have removed tons of oil from the waters off the islands of Tidung and Pari in Thousand Islands regency, Jakarta.

The regency administration announced it had collected 1,715 sacks containing a total of 17.8 tons of oil as of Friday. Residents of the regency noticed the oil off the islands of Pari and Lancang on Aug. 7.

“We collected [2 tons] of oil in 187 sacks from Tidung Island. Meanwhile, there were [15 tons of oil] in 1,528 sacks from Pari Island,” Thousand Islands Environment Agency head Djoko Rianto Budi said on Friday, as quoted by kompas.com.

He added that the agency would work with Pertamina Hulu Energi Offshore Southeast Sumatra (PHE OSES), a subsidiary of state-owned energy company Pertamina, to dispose of the oil.

Read also: Pertamina on hand in handling oil waste in Thousand Islands

The company will take three days to inspect oil samples at the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry’s research and development unit (Lemigas) in South Jakarta before disposing of the oil.

Djoko said he suspected the oil had leaked from ships traveling in the regency’s waters.

Residents of Pari island said the oil reached the coast of the island on Aug. 11. They initially suspected the crude oil had leaked from Pertamina’s drilling operations in Indramayu and Karawang in West Java.

PHE OSES denied the accusation, saying the oil exploration well alleged as the source of the pollution had been closed after last year’s oil spill. The company added that it had helped the local administration and residents clean up the spilled oil. (mfp)

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