Batam fishermen complain of toxic waste dumping - "suspected from Singapore"

TempoInteraktif 15 Jan 10;

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: Residents and fishermen in Batam Island were to file complaint to the government over toxic waste disposed in Batam waters as three ministers were scheduled to visit the island today.

Head of the Regional Control Environmental Office in Batam Dendi Purnomo said locals and fishermen have collected around three tonnes of sludge oil from the coast of Tanjung Bemban since Thursday and will continue their work today.

Vice Chairman of the Riau Islands Chapter of the Indonesian Fishermen Association Awaludin Nasution said on Friday he estimated no less than 10 tonnes of toxic waste had been dumped in the area creating three centimeter thick of waste deposit along the coast in Tanjung Bemban. “Usually a special boat were sent to dump the waste so that it would drift into the Indonesian water,” Awaluddin said suspecting that the waste came from Singapore.

Muchlis Lubis a resident who joined the work to collect the waste as evidence to support their complaint to the Indonesian government said the waste have destroyed the ecosystem along the coast of Tanjung Bemban which stretched for hundreds of meters.

Head of the regional environment office Dendi Purnomo said it will take Jakarta support to solve the problem in intergovernmental level.