Clove farm in Indonesia’s Lampung has Caesium 137 contamination, task force says

JAKARTA – A clove farm in Indonesia’s Lampung province has contamination from Caesium 137, a radioactive isotope, but its presence is limited and it has not spread to other commodities, a government task force looking into the matter said on Oct 13.

The task force sent a team to inspect three locations, including a processing facility in Surabaya in East Java, two farms in Pati in Central Java and Lampung on the island of Sumatra, task force spokesperson Bara Hasibuan told a press conference.

“We can confirm that contamination was found in Lampung farm, in limited quantities, and did not spread to other areas or commodities,” Mr Hasibuan said.

Cloves from the farm on the island of Sumatra will not be sold until further laboratory testing has been completed, Mr Hasibuan said, adding that the authorities are still looking for the source of the Caesium 137.

No further details about the farm were disclosed.

Indonesia has been investigating cases of radioactive contamination in some products in recent weeks, setting up the task force to lead the probe and liaise with the International Atomic Energy Agency and US authorities.

The contamination was first detected in a batch of shrimp shipped to the United States

in August by a local company. The US has imposed new certification requirements for imports of shrimp and spices from Indonesia.

Indonesia’s Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries will provide certification to guarantee that shrimp exports to the United States are free of Caesium 137, Mr Hasibuan said.

The Indonesian government will also negotiate with the US Food and Drug Administration to allow containers already en route to the United States to be exempt from the new rules.

“Many containers have already been shipped. They are already in the middle of the ocean, heading to America,” Mr Hasibuan said.

In the Modern Cikande Industrial Estate some 68km from the capital Jakarta, where the contaminated batch of shrimp was processed, the authorities have already conducted radioactive scans and are considering relocating nearby residents, the spokesperson added.

Last week, the task force said it had found traces of Caesium 137 at 22 facilities at the industrial estate.

Caesium 137 is a hazardous radioactive isotope that usually enters the environment as a result of nuclear testing or after accidents like Chernobyl and Fukushima, according to the website of the US Food and Drug Administration.

Indonesia has no nuclear weapons or nuclear power plants, suggesting that the Caesium 137 entered the country from overseas. REUTERS