100 Sisir Kali Cideng Officers, Dozens of Fish Sweepers Arrested in Front of Plaza Indonesia

DOK Humas Pemkot Jakpus

JAKARTA - Joint officers from the Central Jakarta Administration City Government and the DKI Jakarta Food, Maritime, and Agriculture (KPKP) Department held a volunteer fishing for sapu-sapu fish in Cideng River, specifically in front of Plaza Indonesia.

A total of 100 personnel were deployed in this activity. The arrest was made because the population of sapu-sapu fish was considered increasingly disturbing the ecosystem and had the potential to damage the river infrastructure.

The Mayor of Central Jakarta Arifin said that during the arrest process, the fish were hiding in the tar structure.

"Earlier, many of the fish that wanted to be caught were in the mud and damaged the mud because the fish were quite large. The mudfish also stores its eggs in the mud," said Arifin in his statement, Friday, April 10.

From the results of the volunteer work, the officers managed to catch about 40 sapu-sapu fish. The fish were then killed and will be buried to prevent further impacts.

"This fish is very dangerous because it eats all the poisons in the river. I appeal to the public not to consume the fish," he said.

The head of the DKI Jakarta KPKP Office, Hasudungan Sidabalok, explained that the problem of sapu-sapu fish was not new. Similar handling was also carried out earlier in the Ciliwung River.

"When cleaning the fish with a broom in the Ciliwung river, we have taken samples of fish and water, it turns out that the threshold of contamination exceeds the fish containing Salmoella and E.Coli also heavy metal residues," said Hasudungan.

He said that the condition in Kali Cideng was relatively easier to handle because the length of the flow was not along the Ciliwung, so that the control of fish populations could be more optimal.

"Now we continue this service work in Cideng because if you look at the canal, it is not too long like Ciliwung, so it is easy to control the fish," he added.

After being arrested, the fish will be taken to a government processing facility before being destroyed.

"The dead fish carcasses will be buried because the durability of the fish is that if it is not confirmed dead, it can live without being in the water," he said.

This regulation is part of efforts to maintain the quality of the aquatic environment as well as prevent damage to the river infrastructure due to invasive fish activities.