T

he Cimahi Police and West Bandung regency’s Environment Agency have started an investigation into the pollution in the Cibingbin River, which has ended up in Saguling Dam.

The investigation aims to examine the thousands of liters of oil that spilled into the river from storage pipes belonging to textile company PT Central Georgette Nusantara Printing Mills in late March.

The oil submerged at least two hectares of rice fields in Laksanamekar village, Padalarang district, Bandung Barat regency, West Java.

The police had questioned three employees of the company, West Java Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Yusri Yunus said.

During the questioning, Yusri added, the textile firm noted the presence of smoke and an overflow of oil in its oil storage containers, which connects to four steam boilers, and that hot oil melted the oil storage pipes, causing the oil to spill into a gutter that lead to the Cibingbin River on March 22.

“The polluted river’s waters ended up in rice fields in Laksanamekar village,” Yusri said on Wednesday.

Internal examinations in the company indicated that the oil spill was caused by a broken iron valve in its storage pipes.

Yusri said around 15 farmers working in the polluted two-hectare area were affected by the incident.

Moreover, locals reported that several fish in fishing ponds connected to the river had died.

Local farmer Dede, 45, said he and his fellow farmers demanded that the company take responsibility for the oil spill.

However, he claimed there was no significant follow up from the company yet.

Meanwhile, the head of personnel at PT Central Georgette Nusantara Printing Mills, Dwi Wahyudi, said the company contained the oil spill on March 30. From the estimated 5,000 liters of oil spilled, the capacity of the steam boilers, he said the company had been stepping up efforts to clean the oil from Saguling Dam using absorbent sacks.

Wahyudi declined to comment on potential compensation for the farmers, saying that the firm was still in the process of examining the incident.

Saguling Dam, along with the Cirata and Jatiluhur dams, are located along the Citarum river delta. The Citarum River is West Java’s longest river and one of the world’s most polluted bodies of water.

The three dams hold pivotal roles as electricity-generating dams that supply power to Java, Madura and Bali.

Built in 1985, experts expect Saguling Dam to last only 25 to 50 years, as opposed to 67 years as originally predicted, on the back of siltation and pollution.