Poor Enforcement of Marine Waste Laws
JAKARTA, KOMPAS – Despite the laws banning vessels from dumping their garbage into the sea, their enforcement has been poor. Law enforcement agencies are urged to use their authority to issue warnings to vessels that dispose their garbage at sea as an example for other vessels.
Dumping garbage into or near the sea remains a common occurrence. In the most recent incident, a viral online video shows what appear to be trash bags being thrown into the sea from the KM Nggapulu (Kompas, 11/22/2018).
Such a disrespectful act by a vessel of state-owned ship operator PT Pelni points to poor public awareness of protecting the seas from garbage, even though President Joko Widodo recently signed Presidential Regulation No. 83/2018 on marine waste management.
Ship operators are also required to adhere to Transportation Minister Regulation No. 29/2014 on preventing marine pollution, Government Regulation (PP) No. 21/2010 on maritime environmental protection and the Revised Marpol Annex V (Rseolution MEPC.201[62]), an international regulation on preventing pollution due to marine garbage from ships. In addition, Indonesia also has Law No. 32/2009 on environmental protection and management and Law No. 17/2008 on shipping.
“As far as we know, no legal actions have yet been lodged against ships that litter the oceans,” M. Abdi Suhufan, chair of the Indonesian Marine Scholars Association (Iskindo) and coordinator of the National Destructive Fishing Watch, said in Jakarta on Thursday (11/22/2018).
Abdi said that the case of the KM Bukit Raya, which was found to be littering the ocean while sailing the Tanjung Priok-Natuna route, remained unresolved. The ship’s operator, PT Pelni, admitted to the incident, claining that the perpetrator was an outsourced worker (Kompas, 11/22).
He added that he hoped that marine waste would not become a commonplace issue. Raising public awareness on filing complaints and reporting such incidents was highly needed, as with the public reporting the marine waste incident involving the KM Nggapulu.
Government commitment
Abdi said that the government should be more serious about tackling marine waste, and that the perpetrators should be brought to justice firmly and fairly. Such approaches could set a precedent and produce a deterrent effect in preventing future incidents of marine waste.
Separately, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti said that the government could not fight marine waste alone. Local administrations and the public must also participate in campaigning against the improper disposal of plastic waste.
Susi said that regulations, campaigns and action were needed to tackle marine waste. The ministry had carried out several programs, including beach cleanup events and distributing nets to clean estuaries so that land-based waste did not flow into the sea.
The ministry also planned to issue a regulation banning fishing boats from littering the seas. “We can issue a ministerial regulation on marine waste from fishing boats. We will hold a workshop to prepare the draft regulation,” said Susi.
As regards the KM Nggapulu case, Abdi said that the Transportation Ministry should launch an investigation and audit into PT Pelni as the ship’s operator. He said that the incident revealed the poor waste control and management at PT Pelni.
Abdi cited Article 230 of Law No. 17/2008 on shipping, which states: “All ship captains or the managers of any marine activity are responsible for tackling pollution sourced from their ships or activities.”
In quoting Article 37 of PP No. 21/2010, Abdi said, “All ship captains that neglect their duties as outlined in Article 24, Point 1, Letter A may face an administrative sanction that will freeze their maritime certificate for one year.”
Apart from enforcing the law, Abdi said that Pelni should adhere to and comply with existing standard operating procedures and improve waste management on its vessels. Technically, Pelni should keep a strict record of all garbage and waste produced on a ship from its port of departure to port of arrival, as well as all transit points.
“The garbage must be handed over to a port authority or an independent third party to keep track of ships’ garbage,” he said.
There are widespread concerns over managing marine waste, as the government has been too focused on managing land-based waste. Studies have shown that 80 percent of marine waste is sourced from land.
The KM Nggapulu incident occurred several days before the carcass of a sperm whale was found beached in Wakatobi, Southeast Sulawesi. The whale’s digestive tract contained 5.9 kilograms of garbage, mostly plastic waste. (ICH/LKT)