JAKARTA - The Governor of the Riau Islands, Ansar Ahmad, said that the ships suspected of dumping black oil waste in the waters of the area needed to be dealt with firmly by the authorized law enforcement officers.
According to him, this action needs to be carried out to give a deterrent effect, because when one or two ships are arrested in connection with the alleged dumping of black oil carelessly at sea, the problem of black oil pollution is expected not to occur repeatedly every year.
"I don't know for sure where the black oil came from, but it is suspected to come from the discharge of ships that cross the waters both within and outside the country," he said, in Tanjungpinang, Tuesday, quoted by Antara.
He encouraged the provincial and district/city governments through related services to coordinate with the central government to find concrete solutions to address the problem of black oil that has recently polluted the waters of Bintan Regency, Lingga Regency to Batam.
He also asked the authorities, such as the Indonesian Navy and the Coast Guard Base, to patrol actively in the waters of Batam to monitor the activities of ships so as not to dump black oil waste carelessly in the sea.
"The issue of diesel has been going on for dozens of years and requires serious cross-sectoral handling, both at the central and regional levels," he said.
He added that black oil pollution, especially in Bintan, has a very negative impact on the coastal economic ecosystem, because it can trigger the death of marine life and cause fishermen's catch to decrease.
In addition, continued Ansar, Bintan, which is known as a marine tourism area, was also affected, because tourists were reluctant to go to the coast that was polluted.
"Some foreign tourists complain about the presence of the black oil, because they can't play on the beach," said Ansar.
In recent weeks, there have been about 1,000 sacks of waste oil stranded on the sea and beach along the Malang Rapat Village area to Trikora Beach.
The liquid chemical substance was allegedly deliberately thrown off by ships in the midst of the northern wind season, then carried away by the current towards the waters of Kepri.
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