TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Chief of the North Jakarta Fishery and Marine Department, Sri Haryati, is concerned with the fast sale of green mussels in the market. She says these high-calorie green mussels come from tainted waters and that all types of shellfish or fish living in the waters of Jakarta Bay were barely edible.
"Those mussels and fish have been contaminated by industrial waste and heavy metals, such as mercury, cadmium and zinc," she said.
Aside from industrial waste, the waters of Jakarta Bay have are even more polluted with waste from households that have not been filtered yet. Plus, there may also be waste from ships recklessly disposing their used parts out at sea, most of which is rusty metals.
Researcher from the Oceanography Research Center at the Indonesian National Institute of Sciences (LIPI), Kasim Moosa, said the toxic content of heavy metals in the waters of Jakarta Bay reached between 1.8 and 2 parts per million (ppm). This is severe contamination compared to the maximum limit set by the Environment Ministry on marine sources, which states that the content of heavy metals in the sea, harbors, and marine tourism locations must not exceed 0.01 ppm, 0.03 ppm, and 0.02 ppm respectively.
"Not just mussels, all types of fish are not safe for consumption," he said.
AMRI MAHBUB