Cisadane Festival opens with boat race

Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang

Tangerang Mayor M. Thamrin officially opened the Cisadane Festival and Cisadane Fair at the Cisadane River alongside Jl. Benteng Raya, Tangerang, on Saturday morning.

The opening of the three-week-long festival, which will end on Sept. 23, was marked with a traditional dragon boat race. A total of 38 groups raced in the competition.

Hundreds of people crowded the riverbank to witness the race despite the cloudy day.

"Cisadane River has many functions for Tangerang city. Therefore we must protect it environmentally," Thamrin said during his speech.

The river has become the main water supply for people in Tangerang mayoralty and regency. However, the City Tap Water company has complained that some companies have heavily polluted the river without being reprimanded.

Earlier in July, Tangerang regency administration planned to bring to court at least 25 companies for allegedly discharging liquid waste into the regency's rivers.

According to Tangerang Environment Agency, most of the companies did not have a liquid waste treatment plant or an Environmental Impact Assessment (AMDAL) certificate. Even the few that had such treatment plants still dumped their waste into nearby rivers.

The festival and the fair have been staged annually by the mayoralty administration and provide cheap entertainment for locals.

"The Cisadane Fair aims to empower people in the city, economically, socially and culturally," Thamrin said.

"We hope that the event will encourage more people to visit Tangerang," said Iryani, head of Tangerang City Tourism Agency.

A total of 250 companies -- city-owned, state-owned and privately owned -- joined this year's Cisadane fair.