2,800 workers ready for holiday clean-up

JAKARTA (JP): The City Sanitation Office has 2,808 workers and 259 garbage trucks ready to maintain cleanliness during the Christmas holiday.

The number will be raised to 2,996 workers and 308 trucks for the New Year's Eve cleanup, the sanitation office chief, M. Subasir, told reporters on Monday.

"We expect 4,957 cubic meters of waste at Christmas and another 6,066 cubic meters of garbage on New Year's Eve," Subasir said.

Subasir said sanitation workers expect to face a larger task than ever before due to the rapid increase in the population of the capital over the last year.

Subasir said that private cleaning service companies will also deploy an additional 1,890 workers with 112 trucks to help maintain cleanliness during the Christmas holiday.

"On New Year's Eve the number of workers to be deployed by the private firms will be raised to 1,905 personnel with 112 trucks," he said.

Subasir explained that in Central Jakarta the cleanliness operation will be concentrated on Monas square and Jl. Thamrin. The sanitation office will deploy 200 officers and 33 trucks in the two areas to get rid of an expected 375 cubic meters of garbage during Christmas.

During New Year's Eve, another 324 officers and 65 trucks will be deployed to the two areas to carry away an estimated 715 cubic meters of garbage, he said.

In North Jakarta, the cleanliness operation will be focused on Ancol and Jl. Martadinata, where the sanitation expects people to throw away 450 cubic meters of garbage at Christmas and another 670 cubic meters on New Year's Eve.

The quantity of garbage expected to be generated during Christmas along Mangga Besar Raya, Jl. Gajah Mada and Jl. Hayam Wuruk in West Jakarta is 450 cubic meters.

In Blok M and Jl. Trunojoyo in South Jakarta a total of 260 cubic meters of garbage is projected to be produced during Christmas, with another 320 cubic meters on New Year's Eve.

In East Jakarta, mainly around Taman Mini, Jl. Urip Sumoharjo, Jl. Sentra Primer and Jl. Jatinegara Barat, a total of 498 cubic meters of garbage is expected on Christmas day, with another 432 cubic meters on New Year's Eve.

"There is no special fund allocated for this operation. We use routine funds from the city budget," Subasir said. (yns)