When the Clear Sagea River Turns Turbid
- The water of the Sagea River in Sagea and Kiya Villages, North Weda District , Central Halmahera Regency , North Maluku, has changed color, allegedly contaminated with soil material from the dredged mine since July 28 . . The clear river water which is a tourist spot in Bokimoruru Cave is gone, turning brownish orange and muddy.
- Adlun Fikri , spokesperson for the Save Sagea Coalition , said the water contamination got worse when it rained in the upstream on August 14. Actually , since the end of July the water has started to get cloudy but for two or three days it disappeared.
- Sagea River water is a source of water for various daily needs of the residents. They are also worried that if this river continues to experience pollution it will be damaged and can no longer be used . Not to mention, this river is part of the tourist karst landscape of Bokimoruru.
- Agus Kastanya , Professor of Forestry at Pattimura University, is worried about the development in North Maluku . North Maluku Environmental Service , must take progressive steps, assisted by a academic there . All parties are taking steps to save the environment and the people in Sagea Village, Halmahera. There must be the power of civil society to encourage sustainable development in North Maluku.
The water of the Sagea River in Sagea and Kiya Villages, North Weda District, Central Halmahera Regency, North Maluku, has changed color and has been contaminated with soil material, allegedly from a mine dredging, in mid-August. The clear river water which is a tourist spot in Bokimoruru Cave is gone, turning orange-brown and muddy.
In the last week the cloudy water has not decreased. Water can no longer be used. Alleged residents in the upstream area of the river there is clearing of land that causes cloudy water during floods even though it rains with low intensity.
"Until Saturday (August 19) the water was still cloudy even though there had been a slight change unlike at the beginning of the incident," said Taher Muhdin, a resident of Sagea who opens a shop in the tourist area of Bokimoruru every day.
Bokimoruru is a karst destination in Sagea, Central Halmahera which is also crossed by the Sagea River.
Residents had never seen the Sagea River like this before. Even when it rains heavily, the water is cloudy but not like now, it's muddy.
Adlun Fikri, spokesperson for the Save Sagea Coalition, said that the water contamination got worse when it rained in the upstream last August 14. In fact, said Adlun, since the end of July the water has started to become cloudy but for two or three days it has disappeared.
It's happened three or four times already. The climax, last Monday, was that the water was like soil excavated by a mine.
"Our guess is because there is land clearing upstream. Based on experience and comparing the water that comes out of the upstream during floods, it is very different," he said.
The change in the color of the river water is due to the demolition of land upstream.
Adlun said that on August 2, the river water was cloudy and then decreased, until it became increasingly cloudy on August 14.
“At that time there was a little rain upstream. It wasn't long before the water flowing out was so bad," he said.
He said several mining companies operate in the area. Adlun suspects that this mining operation is the culprit.
Save Sagea, he said, could not confirm which company had the dredged mine enter the river water body. To be sure it takes a field check to the forest a few kilometers.
Urge to uphold the law
Residents and the Save Sagea Community urge the Law Enforcement Center of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, the Environment Agency, the North Maluku Mining Service, the River Basin Office (BWS) and the River Basin Management Center (BPDAS) to monitor.
"We are sure that the source of the contamination is not an ordinary flood."
Sagea River water is a source of water for various daily needs of the residents. They are also worried that if this river continues to experience pollution it will be damaged and can no longer be used. Not to mention, he said, this river is part of the tourist karst landscape of Bokimoruru.
This river water, he said, is also planned to become bottled water and refill BUMDes of Sagea Village. "If this water is polluted by the dredged mines, it will be a problem. Not only does it affect Goa Bokimoruru tourism, village businesses and the residents' main water source are threatened."
Takdir Tjan, Head of North Weda sub-district, was contacted from Ternate on August 15 to confirm the pollution of the river. The people of Sagea, he said, are concerned because the river water is their source of life.
He said that this contamination was suspected to be from mining activities and needed further investigation.
In addition, there is information circulating in Sagea that there is an activity of transporting nickel ore by one of the companies operating in this area via the Manona River, which is the main body of Sagea.
From the mud that was carried there were indications that it was the result of mining. "Very different from ordinary floods."
He admitted that when they went to the field the day after the incident, they could not take samples because the water conditions were slowly changing. Currently, they are trying to ascertain the source of the cypress. "We are focused on finding the source."
So how many companies are active in this area? Central Halmahera DLH cannot confirm this matter. He promised to carry out checks including tracing maps and seeing how many companies were operating in the area. If it is true that there has been a violation, DLH will coordinate with the KLHK's Legal Law.
Contacted from Ternate, the Balai Gakkum LHK for Maluku, North Maluku and Papua regions, stated that they had not received any report on the alleged contamination of the river water by the mining activity.
Alamsyah SP, Head of the Security and Law Enforcement Section (Gakkum) stated, so far they have not received any reports, including from the Environment Agency of Central Halmahera Regency or the province.
"We will seek further information regarding this matter," he said.
Tourism is impacted
Until last August 19, the water of the Sagea River was still murky. Taher said that the change in the color of the river water that passes through Bokimoruru Cave has occurred since August 12.
"It was very affected because the spring water flowed to the village," he said.
He said, the river water in the cave was cloudy when it rained heavily but it became clear again in a day. What is happening now, the change in the color of the water lasts for days.
Inevitably, the water was murky, the Bokimoruru Cave tourist attraction was empty of visitors. A number of tourists came but chose to go home because they saw the murky river water.
“The attraction of this cave is because of the clear green water. The purpose of visitors coming to see the water. What visitors use are also water rides. A few days ago, visitors came to take a look and immediately went home.”
This condition has an impact on traders in the tourist attraction. Their income also fell. "Revenue at our tavern is usually Rp. 2 million more per day, if the river is normal. Right now there is no (no) income because there are no visitors," said Taher.
Last Saturday, August 19, even though the river water was still cloudy, residents were forced to hold a paddle boat race . This competition is part of commemorating the Republic of Indonesia's Independence Day.
Ashari Salim, Head of the Activity Committee said, even though the river water was cloudy it could not be delayed. The agenda which was enlivened by residents and visitors from outside the village was originally held after the ceremony last August 17, only because the mud flood was postponed until August 19.
"What else can we do. The water is cloudy, but because it has been scheduled, it will still be implemented," said Ashari.
The threat of karst ecosystems
The Save Sagea Village Coalition (SEKA) continues to campaign both on social media and protests in Central Halmahera, North Maluku. They voiced concern because the Sageyen River, also known as the Sagea River, is polluted.
SEKA, in collaboration with Forest Watch Indonesia (FWI), produced a number of satellite image maps to identify the source (inlet) of the underground river to Bokimoruru Cave.
Adlun, also the Coordinator of SEKA, said that the hills in Bokimoruru Cave are a karst ecosystem that has a good development of the karstification process. There are caves, underground rivers and sinkholes /phonor .
According to Aziz Fardhani Jaya, Speleology of Karst Forest Watch Indonesia (FWI), Bokimoruru Cave, according to the mapping results of the 1987-1988 France team, said Adlun, has a tunnel length of about 8.6 kilometers. Inside there is an underground river flow system that flows out of the cave.
The Sagea River, is the embodiment of the Bokimomuru Cave underground river which appears to the surface through the mouth of the cave. The Sagea River, he said, has a fairly stable flow and discharge over a long period of time, indicating that most of the sources of the Sagea River originate from the karst region in the Bokimoruru area.
From the latest satellite imagery in May 2023, said Adlun, they found land clearing for road construction within the mining concessions of PT Halmahera Sukses Mineral and PT Weda Bay Nickel, which lead to the Ake Sagea watershed.
However, said Adlun, further investigation is needed on the causes of pollution of the Sagea River. "An in-depth investigation is needed by tracing the flow of the Ake Sagea (Legaelol) river and its watershed."
The Sagea River, said Aziz, is a manifestation of the underground river of Bokimoruru Cave which appears to the surface through the mouth of the cave. The Sagea River has a fairly stable flow and discharge over a long period of time.
"Indicates that the source of the Sagea River is mostly from the Bokimoruru karst," said a researcher from Forest Watch Indonesia who studies forest and land governance issues in these small islands.
He traced the events of August 15, 2023 when the underground river in Sagea changed color. The flow of the Sagea River suddenly became cloudy as if mixed with soil sediment. This phenomenon, he said, showed indications of underground water sources in Bokimoruru Cave coming from non-karst areas.
"The characteristic of underground rivers that originate from non-karst areas is that their conditions change easily (discharge, flow, color) because they are influenced by what is underneath. In the context of jnj, sedimentary material is carried and dissolved into the river, causing the water to turn cloudy."
If identifying the source (inlet) of an underground river, said the FWI researcher, the image will show two rivers entering and leaving the karst area around Bokimoruru, namely the Legaelol and Sepo Rivers.
Both rivers are surface rivers in non-karst areas (if you refer to the MEMR limestone distribution map). Both are located in the northwestern and northern parts of the mouth of Bokimoruru Cave and the flow is southeast-south.
The two rivers, he said, should be suspected as the source (non-karst inlet) of the underground river in Bokimoruru Cave.
Save Sagea also pressed demands and recommendations. First , demanding investigation and enforcement of environmental law against those who are proven to have committed pollution.
Second , demanding companies operating in the upstream Sagea watershed to stop their activities before there is an investigation result from the authorities.
Third , the government must evaluate permits and mining activities in the upstream Sagea watershed and karst in the villages of Sagea and Kiya. Fourth , encourage karst protection policies and the Sagea watershed. Given, he said, both have important ecological functions.
Apart from campaigns through social media, support for mining protests is also carried out by Save Sagea November 2022 through petitions. The petition entitled: Immediately establish protection for the Sagea karst landscape area!
This petition is directly addressed to Arifin Tasrif, Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources; Eko Budi Lelono, Head of the Geological Agency, and Abdul Gani Kasuba, and the Governor of North Maluku.
This petition was made directly by Aziz Fardhani Jaya, Speleology Karst Forest Watch Indonesia (FWI). He values it, it is important to protect and save the Bokimoruru Goa karst. So far, more than 5,000 people have signed the petition.
Munadi Kilkoda, member of the Central Halmahera DPRD, said that monitoring by the Central Halmahera Environment Service (DLH) indicated that the material causing sedimentation was similar to what is normally mined.
Only, said Munadi, DPRD and DLH could not confirm the exact source of the problem, because they had not checked all the way to the upstream part of Bokimaruru Cave.
Agus Kastanya, Professor of Forestry at Pattimura University, is worried about the development in North Maluku. In addition to being a very dangerous process for the environment, it will also erode all land cover until erosion occurs which carries soil into rivers and seas.
The characteristics of the watersheds in Maluku and North Maluku, he said, are very narrow and short so that they can cause direct erosion of rivers and coasts as well as the sea.
"If you look at the condition of the color of the water in the photographs, it is extraordinary and a big threat to residents, society and the environment. If it is not immediately addressed, it will be disastrous for the local residents and their environment.”
North Maluku DLH, said the former Maluku Forestry Council, must take progressive steps, assisted by academics there.
He hoped that all parties would take steps to save the environment and the people in Sagea Village, Halmahera. He said, there must be the power of civil society to encourage sustainable development in North Maluku.
"The offer to open a case discussion is very important and must be done to help local residents and the community and the environment in North Maluku," he said.
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