TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Fishermen catch oil, not fish, after well accident
The oil spill from state energy giant Pertamina’s Offshore North West Java block that occurred 2 kilometers off the coast of Karawang, West Java, on July 12 has reached nine islands in Thousand Islands regency as of September, with islands such as Untung Jawa and Lancang suffering the most from the spill
Change Size
T
span>The oil spill from state energy giant Pertamina’s Offshore North West Java block that occurred 2 kilometers off the coast of Karawang, West Java, on July 12 has reached nine islands in Thousand Islands regency as of September, with islands such as Untung Jawa and Lancang suffering the most from the spill.
The spill follows a gas well kick, an unplanned and often violent release of gas caused by low pressure in a wellbore.
Officials from the Environment and Forestry Ministry previously estimated environmental cleanup efforts would take as long as six months.
“The ministry has not finished conducting an environmental impact analysis yet. However, we are aware that Pertamina has already started placing oil booms, which trap the spill from spreading to more areas. Furthermore, they [Pertamina] have already deployed 44 ships to prevent the spill from reaching more islands,” said the ministry’s director general, Karliansyah, on Friday.
People’s Coalition for Fisheries Justice (KIARA) secretary-general Susan Herawati estimates it will take a year or more to clean up the oil from the Karawang and Thousand Islands seas.
“KIARA’s earliest environmental impact assessment indicates that at the current rate of leakage, if not stopped within one year, the pollution could be as adverse as the Montara oil spill in the Timor Sea in 2009,” Susan told The Jakarta Post.
KIARA shared a photo with the Post that shows the remains of a dolphin discovered at Pelangi Beach in Karawang. According to coalition officials at the scene, the dolphin bones reeked of oil.
There are nine islands affected by the oil spill, which are Edam, Air, Cipir, Bidadari, Onrus, Kelor, Rambut, Untung Jawa and Lancang.
During the Post’s visit to Untung Jawa Island on Wednesday, traces of oil were visible in both the shallow waters and on the beach.
At one of the island’s piers, Pertamina personnel equipped with protective jumpsuits and latex gloves threw sacks filled with oil-covered waste onto a ship. Near the ship, a number of fishermen were collecting waste from their boats.
Untung Jawa Transportation Agency official Agus said each fisherman was paid Rp 20,000 (US$1.40) for every sack filled with oil waste they delivered to Pertamina.
According to Lancang Island fisherman and grouper fish breeder Hariri, the oil spill has negatively affected fishing activities on the island.
“Since the spill reached Lancang on July 27, more than 300 of my grouper seeds have died due to contamination. This is just my case, there are other fishermen who were affected as well,” said Hariri.
On the other hand, Pari Island fisherman Sulaiman claimed the spill had not greatly affected fishing activities on the Island.
“The oil spill has not reached Pari Island. When the spill reached the regency at the end of July, a few of my usual fishing spots in the sea near Pari were affected by the spill and daily catch slightly decreased. However, it wasn’t a major problem since all we had to do was change spots. As of this month, my daily catch has returned to normal,” Sulaiman told the Post.
According to Pertamina’s vice president of relations, Ifki Sukarya, the company is locating the holes on the wellbore, which will then be sealed with mud.
“We are working with American well control company Boots & Coots to seal the holes on the wellbore. Subsequently, after the holes are sealed, we plan to permanently shut down the wellbore,” said Ifki.
Furthermore, Pertamina promised it would provide “cashless” compensation to the affected residents of Thousand Islands and Karawang.
“It is difficult to calculate the amount of monetary compensation for each affected resident. Therefore, we plan to provide other means of reimbursements, such as rice sacks for kiosk owners or new fishing nets for fishermen,” Ifki said.
Meanwhile, Thousand Islands Regent Husein Murad said tourism in the regency had yet to feel the impact of the spill.
“From last year’s Idul Fitri to this year’s Idul Fitri, the administration recorded 62,000 tourist visits to all the islands in the regency. In comparison, from 2017’s Idul Fitri to 2018’s, only 40,000 tourists visited the regency,” said Husein.
He also said people who were affected by the spill were in communication with subdistrict heads and Pertamina officials to verify the amount of compensation they were entitled to for the repercussions caused by the spill.
The Thousand Islands administration previously stated that as much as 46 tons of oil spill-related waste had been collected by the end of July. (bry)
