Bapedal tracking sources of mercury pollution in Martapura river

To follow up information about mercury pollution in Martapura river, the South Kalimantan's Environmental Impact Management Agency (Bapedal) will coordinate efforts with related parties, including the Banjar administration, to track the source of the pollution.

The head of South Kalimantan's Bapedal, Madjedi Asri, said that along the Martapura river, there were no industries or factories processing metals. And therefore, initial assumption would be that people's gold mining activities along the river were the one causing the mercury pollution.

Madhedi argued that usually, gold miners use mercury to cleanse their gold ore.

He added that he had contacted the Banjar administration to check the level of mercury pollution in its area and also to check whether gold miners in its area use mercury in its operation.

The mercury pollution in Martapura river could create problems for the whole community along the river, including people in Banjarmasin because the water company PDAM Banjarmasin uses around 40 percent of its water inputs from the river. (*)