Fishermen Complained Polluted Jakarta`s Sea

Jakarta's sea which is contaminated by waste caused hundreds of fishermen in five fisherman center in North Jakarta have difficulty for fishing. Their profit keep going down and suffer loss since the operational budget is not equal with the result.

It's already going for long time if the sea is contaminated by industrial waste. Mostly fishermen in Kalibaru, Marunda, Cilincing, Kamalmuara, and Muara Angke went far from seafront for fishing. That is why their operational cost boost up.

As the effect of this condition, many of fishermen leave their fishing activity to be odd worker or seasonal farmer to fulfill their livelihood.

Yusuf (46), a fisherman, said that fishing result is also depending on the weather. "It's different with ten years ago. I easily got fish," he said.

Another fisherman, Taufik (47), admitted he and his five partners only get Rp 100 thousand to Rp 150 thousand per person after fishing four days. The smallest amount is Rp 30 thousand or empty hand.

North Jakarta Head Sub-dept. of Livestock, Fishery and Maritime, Sri Hayati, admitted there were five cases caused thousands of fish died and floating on sea shore.

"The information revealed it happened on Marunda sea, Kalibaru, and Cilincing. It will be coordinated with Regional Environment Board, Dept. of Cleanliness, and Dept. of Industry and Energy," she said.

She can not do much since it depends on coordination result with those related units.

"There are 23 thousand of fishermen categorized as low economic residents. Fishing is only their hope to fulfill daily needs. Five thousands of them are city residents," she added.