Garbagemen distressed by current situation<\/p>\n
JAKARTA: Closure of the Bantar Gebang dump site in Bekasi,
\nWest Java, has also affected about 5,000 garbage collectors right
\nacross the city.<\/p>\n
They have become unemployed and face financial hardship since
\nMonday's closure.<\/p>\n
On Thursday the city administration was still undecided on
\nwhere to dump its garbage, totaling 25,000 cubic meters per day.
\nIt has yet to identify a new dump site to replace the Bantar
\nGebang dump.<\/p>\n
According to Asep, one of the collectors, all garbage
\ncollectors are paid on a daily basis. Therefore they have not
\nearned a cent for the last couple of days because they have done
\nno work.<\/p>\n
\"Since Tuesday, we have not collected any garbage because we
\ndon't know where to unload it,\" he told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
A day before, Asep said, his group had collected garbage from
\nEast Jakarta and loaded it onto a truck. However, the truck
\ncould not dispose of it because Bantar Gebang was closed down,
\nwhile a transit dump site in Sunter, North Jakarta, also rejected
\nit.<\/p>\n
\"We were paid our wage for that day although we failed to dump
\nthe garbage,\" he said thankfully.<\/p>\n
Asep's friend, Jiman, asserted that the situation had really
\naffected them, particularly due to the upcoming Idul Fitri
\nholiday. He said that he needed more money to celebrate it.<\/p>\n
\"Why did the Bekasi administration close the site at this
\ntime? And why did the city administration fail to determine a
\nnew site quickly?\" said Jiman, who comes from East Java.<\/p>\n
Currently, about five thousand people work as garbage
\ncollectors, serving the city by taking the material to dump
\nsites.<\/p>\n
Their livelihood, therefore, depends on the garbage that the
\ncity produces daily. Furthermore, residents here cannot survive
\nwithout them, as otherwise, the city would disappear beneath
\nheaps of garbage.<\/p>\n
Some garbage collectors work for the city sanitation agency
\nwhile others are employed by private companies hired by the
\nagency to deal with the garbage. Most of the workers are young
\nmen.<\/p>\n
They are paid Rp 7,500 to Rp 10,000 per day. Usually they work
\nfrom 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The office disburses the money after they
\nhave finished each day.<\/p>\n
Besides the dirt, the collectors must cope with bad smells and
\nbacteria. However, most of them claim they get used to it after
\ndoing the job for a few weeks.<\/p>\n
Most collectors said that the wage was insufficient, even for
\na single man. According to Jiman, it could only cover his daily
\nexpenditure on food and transportation.<\/p>\n
\"I think they should pay us more. Nobody wants to do the dirty
\njobs,\" he remarked, adding that he had to do it as he had failed
\nto find any other employment.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/garbagemen-distressed-by-current-situation-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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