When Entering The North Season, Activists Find Plastic Waste From Thailand, China And Malaysia Rutin 'landing' In Natuna

One of the plastic waste from a foreign country found on Natuna Beach, Riau Islands Province some time ago. (PHOTO ANTARA)

NATUNA - Waste in the form of plastic waste from the Asian region was again found landing on several beaches in the Natuna Island area, Riau Islands Province (Kepri). "Most of it is in the form of plastic bottle waste used to be drinks from various countries. This happens regularly every year when entering the northern season," said environmental activist from the Natuna Bahari Celebration Community (JBN), Eddy in Natuna, quoted from Antara, Thursday, December 22. He explained that the findings in the field showed that the plastic bottle waste came from various countries, including Vietnam, Thailand, China, Malaysia and from the Hong Kong area. "We suspect this is from the waste of ships passing through the Natuna Sea, and this item is not imported but purely imported products from these countries, and is not listed as imported by Indonesia," he said. He also explained that not only plastic waste, other types of waste, including waste from oil clumps that resemble asphalt, are also often found along the coast and are found throughout the year. "It is very easy for us to find the waste stuck to the sand, wood and plastic waste, black sticky as asphalt," he said. He put forward that the last three years JBN has made beach clean activities a routine agenda before diving or snorkeling activities. "Initially we used to travel the islands every weekend, snorkeling and diving, but we were quite concerned about the condition of garbage, we always found it on every island and coast, because we identify it, it turns out that it is not Indonesian waste or visitor waste, but indeed garbage from abroad, more dominant," he said. He also said that the exact origin of the garbage is from ship waste or from other sources, but it is clearly stated that the origin of the product is not from Indonesia. "We can confirm that we are not Indonesian products and not foreign goods that we import into Indonesia," he said. He hopes that the supervision of the waste must also be taken into consideration by related parties in charge of increasing the number of waste from abroad. "We have been tracing every year at the same points, starting from the north, south and even the small island around Bunguran Island every year is increasing, last week we found piles of garbage on the island of Jantai, South Bunguran," said Eddy.