Cisadane Festival opens with boat race

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.