Again, oil spills cover part of Seribu islands
Thursday, November 25 2004 - 02:45 AM WIB
Again, mysterious oil spills have been found in the sea around the Seribu islands, near north Jakarta, causing a serious pollution to at least 30 isles in the sea tourism site, one of the country's important maritime conservation areas, Kompas reported on Thursday.
Sumarto, the head of the Seribu islands maritime park, said in Jakarta on Wednesday that the oil spills, which were firstly found in November 19 in one of isles in the Seribu islands had affected 30 isles.
The oil spills were the sixth this year. The latest one was discovered in October, causing a serious pollution to many parts of the Seribu islands.
Sumarto criticized the government for the slow handling of the oil spill problem in the islands area, which is also used as a shipping route to transport crude oil. "No serious actions had so far been taken to find out the sources of the oil spills," he said. (*)