Kapuas continues to be polluted

It was raining in Pontianak, West Kalimantan. Yanto (36), together with hundreds of people in Kampung Beting, Pontianak, were busy filling containers with rainwater. They prepared as many containers as possible to catch as much rainwater as possible. They use rainwater to drink and cook.

This reality is very ironic for people living in Kampung Beting, located right in left bank of Kapuas river. The people in Kapung Beting and other villages along the downstream of Kapuas river could not anymore use river water to cook, moreover to drink. The river has been heavily polluted with various dangerous substances, including mercury.

The river has become the waste dumping sites for most people along the river, industries along the river and illegal miners operating along the river.

For instance, there are around 40 rubber and wood processing plants located along 70 kilometers the downstream level of Kapuas until Padangtikar. And all those industries dump their waste to the river.

This has been worsened by rampant illegal gold mining activities along the river. The miners use quicksilver that contain mercury to cleanse the gold alluvial, and dispose the waste to Kapuas, making the river polluted with mercury.

Mardan Adijaya, head of the Center for Freshwater and Coastal Studies at the University of Tandjung Pura, said that based on a 1995 study, Kapuas water contained mercury of between 0.8 ppb to 10 ppb, compared to the normal level of 1.0 ppb for drinkable water.

"I'm confident that the level of mercury in Kapuas has been increasing drastically because in the past four years, especially during the economic crisis, illegal gold mining activities have become more rampant and massive," he said.

Nanang Sunarya, head of the West Kalimantan Energy and Mineral Resources office, added: "The danger of pollution has never been realized by people in West Kalimantan."

Illegal gold mining activities, using quicksilver and high-powered machinery, has become increasingly uncontrolled especially since early 1980-an. In the beginning, people use 20-horsepowered engine, but then some people with enough funds use more powerful engine and employ more people to increase their mining output.

This uncontrolled illegal mining activities have also destroyed a large acreage of forests. Currently, mining activities have covered at least 6,385 hectares, spreading in all regencies in West Kalimantan, employing 15,565 people and using 3,113 engines with 20 to 100 horsepower.

Sintang district has the largest number of illegal mining sites, 174 locations covering an area of 2,241.5 hectares, followed by Ketapang district with 21 locations covering 2,034 hectares, Pontianak district with 23 locations covering 1,091 hectares, Sambas 16 locations covering 505 hectares, Sanggau 63 locations covering 212.45 hectares and Kapuas Hulu 57 locations covering 70.5 hectares. (*)