JAKARTA, DanauToba.org ― The immediate cause of water quality decline in Lake Toba was precisely described by Mr Freek Huskens, former President Director of PT Aquafarm Nusantara, when he said in court that as much as 1.8 Tons of pellets (fish feed) were sown per 1 Ton of fish per day in Lake Toba. This he conveyed in the continuing session of Lake Toba Heritage Foundation (YPDT) suing the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) and PT Aquafarm Nusantara on Wednesday (21/2/2018) at the State Administrative Court (PTUN) Jakarta.
That is a total of 65,700 tons of feed pellets per year. Even if only one percent of the pellets were not eaten by the caged fish about 657 Ton of pellets potentially pollute Lake Toba. However, there are serious and much higher estimates of around twenty percent of feed pellets falling through the fish cages. That is, 13,140 tons of pellets per year to contaminate Lake Toba. The total pollution numbers are outrageous.
PT Aquafarm Nusantara started their fish cultivation in the fish cages in 1998. This suggests the potential pollution of Lake Toba over 19 years is between 12,483 and 249,660 tons of pellets not consumed by the farmed fish. How could that extreme level of pollution not have contaminated Lake Toba?
And what are the ill effects on Lake Toba?
“More than 1,500 tons of fish suddenly turned up dead in Indonesia’s largest lake…, a mass asphyxiation from a lack of oxygen in the water caused by high pollution levels. [The event]… shed light on the rapidly declining conditions in Lake Toba, the largest volcanic lake in the world” (Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies 26 October 2016).
Huskens also admitted in court that all of their best quality fish products were sold to the United States, Western Europe and some other countries. Only the lesser quality fish were sold in Indonesia. PT Aquafarm Nusantara is a foreign company and subsidiary of Swiss company Regal Springs AG that has invested in Indonesia under license from BKPM Republic of Indonesia.
FOOTNOTE: We bet that the Swiss Government wouldn’t allow Regal Springs AG to get away with having polluting fish farms in Lake Geneva.
For more information about YPDT’s Court actions:
- Visit our website: danautoba.org.
- Contact Person: Andaru Satnyoto – General Secretary of YPDT (+62 857-1974-4384 or andarusatnyoto@gmail.com)
