Central Jakarta again awarded for cleanliness

JAKARTA (JP): Central Jakarta Mayor Abdul Kahfi revealed on Saturday that for the third consecutive year the mayoralty will receive the coveted Adipura award for cleanliness.

During a rally to express the general public's support for the ongoing Operation Cleansing at the National Monument (Monas) Square Grounds, Kahfi said that Minister of Home Affairs Moch. Yogie S.M. had informed him of the happy news.

"Central Jakarta will be awarded the 1994 Adipura award for cleanliness by President Soeharto on Monday afternoon," Kahfi said to the unrestrained applause of around 600 people attending the rally.

"This achievement should be credited not only to the Central Jakarta mayoralty administration but also to all those living here," Kahfi beamed.

Four cities from each of four categories, based on population, will be extolled.

He divulged that Semarang, Surabaya and Bandung would be the other recipients of the award from the category of major cities.

When asked about the secret to Central Jakarta's success, Kahfi replied that it was the active participation of the whole community in maintaining a clean and healthy environment.

Among the positive examples of private community participation, according to him, is the supply of some 5,000 garbage disposal sites throughout Central Jakarta.

"The people of Central Jakarta are aware that cleanliness is everyone's responsibility, not only the government's."

Street vendors

The mayoralty also intends to maintain clean-up campaigns by keeping street vendors from opening for business along the mayoralty's roads which have been identified as a source of disorder, especially those along major thoroughfares.

"We shall soon be clearing them from areas such as Bendungan Hilir and Tanah Abang (garment and textile market) area," Kahfi said.

The mayor explained that another upcoming initiative will focus on demolishing the shabby huts which occupy the banks of the rivers passing through the mayoralty.

"Since 1992 we have cleared 4,712 huts from the banks of the mighty Kali Malang River," Kahfi said.

He explained that the government provided several options to the local squatters, among them resettlement in transmigration sites outside Java and retraining for alternative jobs.

Kahfi asserted that a significant portion of the people living in the huts were from outside the city and have been sent back to their hometowns.

This means that the people living in the huts actually have homes to return to, he said. (mds)