"This is hazardous waste. The Jakarta environment office should take the initiative to clean the shorelines. The residents should not be allowed to clean it on their own," Walhi activist Dwi Sawung remarked here on Friday.
Sawung affirmed that the oil spill will negatively impact the residents' health along the northern coast of Jakarta if they were to inhale the gas and be exposed to the oil spill.
"Some people will experience dizziness, and it is poisonous. Hence, they need to wear a mask," he emphasized.
Sawung suggested that a special team of the Environment Office should clean up the oil spill by using adequate safety equipment.
Earlier, the Jakarta Environment Office and the PHE ONWJ Block, with assistance of the residents of Seribu Islands, cleaned up the oil spill in the coastal areas.
The oil spill has polluted the waters in some islands in the district, including Rambut Island, Untung Jawa Island, and Ayer Island.
Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti has called on state oil and gas firm PT Pertamina to place more oil booms around the area to prevent the oil spill from spreading further.
PT Pertamina continues to probe the reason behind the release of gas from the YYA-1 well in West Java that led to the oil spill. Pertamina has mobilized 27 ships and 12 sets of oil boom to contain the oil spill and handle the environmental impact, and in cooperation with the Indonesian Navy and the Maritime Police, it has deployed seven patrol boats to ensure no fishermen conduct fishing activities in the area.
Pertamina halted operations and removed workers from a gas drilling platform in the Offshore North West Java (ONWJ) block owing to a perilous “well kick,” an unplanned and often violent release of gas caused by low pressure in a wellbore, that started on July 12 and became bigger two days later.
The well kick occurred in the re-activated YYA-1, located beneath the PHE ONWJ’s offshore platform, two kilometers north of Karawang, West Java. Related news: Karawang's salt farmers suffer losses from Pertamina's oil spill
Related news: Pertamina to compensate fishermen, residents affected by oil spill
EDITED BY INE
Translator: Devi Nindy SR, Sri Haryati
Editor: Suharto
Copyright © ANTARA 2019
