Central Jakarta again awarded for cleanliness

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)