Five administrations to team up to clean up Ciliwung
Five administrations to team up to clean up Ciliwung
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
The Ciliwung river, one of Greater Jakarta's main arteries, will
soon get the honor of being closely monitored by a horde of
bureaucrats from five separate government administrations in a
bid to control its notorious pollution levels.
The City Environmental Management Agency's environmental
control division head Junani Kartawiria said on Thursday that
administration officials from West Java and Jakarta provinces,
Bogor regency and the municipalities of Bogor and Depok signed a
Memorandum of Understanding on Aug. 10 to monitor and control
pollution in the river.
The State Minister of the Environment Nabiel Makarim will act
as the coordinator of the project.
"We are focusing on the Ciliwung because it is the biggest
river in the city. If we are able to control pollution in such a
big river, then controlling smaller rivers will be much easier,"
Junani said on Thursday.
She said there were no updated, comprehensive studies about
the pollution in the river, so they would begin with that.
"We'll start with collecting and analyzing samples taken from
different parts of the river before we proceed with further steps
to reduce pollution."
The most recent known report on the Ciliwung's pollution was
made by the Trisakti University School of Environmental
Technology between 1989 and 1994.
During the five-year observation period, the report concluded
that the river water was heavily polluted by such things as
ammonia, highly-toxic metals, nitrate, detergent and phenol.
Junani said the cooperative effort would also require each of
the five administrations to establish a team focused on
monitoring the Ciliwung's pollution.
"Each team will be responsible at least to ensure that the
level of pollution in their part of the river is not getting
worse," she said.
She added that the agreement, which would last through 2007,
was made amid concerns about the poor quality of resources
available to government agencies that should be tackling
pollution problems.
"Not all administrations have a set standard or the tools for
monitoring pollution, including good laboratories and
professional people. That is really alarming because those areas
south of Jakarta have had a tendency to expand very quick and
therefore have put a greater burden on the river," Junani said.
The government has long blamed residents along the riverbanks
for contributing to the worsening quality of river water,
sometimes overlooking the industrial polluters.
Environmental experts, however, have said the absence of an
integrated sewage system in the city was also among the major
causes that have worsened the quality of water in the 13 rivers
flowing through Jakarta, because almost all liquid waste
eventually makes its way into those rivers.
Rife pollution of the city's rivers has been in the news
following the case of fish poisoning when tons of shrimp and
other sea life were found dead in and around Jakarta Bay in May.
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
The Ciliwung river, one of Greater Jakarta's main arteries, will
soon get the honor of being closely monitored by a horde of
bureaucrats from five separate government administrations in a
bid to control its notorious pollution levels.
The City Environmental Management Agency's environmental
control division head Junani Kartawiria said on Thursday that
administration officials from West Java and Jakarta provinces,
Bogor regency and the municipalities of Bogor and Depok signed a
Memorandum of Understanding on Aug. 10 to monitor and control
pollution in the river.
The State Minister of the Environment Nabiel Makarim will act
as the coordinator of the project.
"We are focusing on the Ciliwung because it is the biggest
river in the city. If we are able to control pollution in such a
big river, then controlling smaller rivers will be much easier,"
Junani said on Thursday.
She said there were no updated, comprehensive studies about
the pollution in the river, so they would begin with that.
"We'll start with collecting and analyzing samples taken from
different parts of the river before we proceed with further steps
to reduce pollution."
The most recent known report on the Ciliwung's pollution was
made by the Trisakti University School of Environmental
Technology between 1989 and 1994.
During the five-year observation period, the report concluded
that the river water was heavily polluted by such things as
ammonia, highly-toxic metals, nitrate, detergent and phenol.
Junani said the cooperative effort would also require each of
the five administrations to establish a team focused on
monitoring the Ciliwung's pollution.
"Each team will be responsible at least to ensure that the
level of pollution in their part of the river is not getting
worse," she said.
She added that the agreement, which would last through 2007,
was made amid concerns about the poor quality of resources
available to government agencies that should be tackling
pollution problems.
"Not all administrations have a set standard or the tools for
monitoring pollution, including good laboratories and
professional people. That is really alarming because those areas
south of Jakarta have had a tendency to expand very quick and
therefore have put a greater burden on the river," Junani said.
The government has long blamed residents along the riverbanks
for contributing to the worsening quality of river water,
sometimes overlooking the industrial polluters.
Environmental experts, however, have said the absence of an
integrated sewage system in the city was also among the major
causes that have worsened the quality of water in the 13 rivers
flowing through Jakarta, because almost all liquid waste
eventually makes its way into those rivers.
Rife pollution of the city's rivers has been in the news
following the case of fish poisoning when tons of shrimp and
other sea life were found dead in and around Jakarta Bay in May.