Kapuk Angke buried in plastic

JAKARTA: Piles of garbage, consisting mostly of plastic bags, were seen on Saturday covering the northern Kapuk coast stretching from Muara Angke to the Cengkareng Canal, Kompas Cyber Media reported.

Angke Kapuk forest ranger Sapto said forest rangers were overwhelmed by their task to keep the garbage -- which is deposited by the 13 rivers running through Jakarta -- from polluting the 44-hectare protected forest. Only five rangers monitor and maintain the forest.

"Sometimes we burn the garbage that scatters along the coastline, but there's so much garbage that we can't keep up. So we've decided to clean only the garbage that has encroached the forest," he said.

Jakarta produces about 6,000 tons of garbage per day. Although several city dumps exist in the capital, many residents, especially those who live near riverbanks, opt to throw out their household waste into the river.

No official data is available as to the amount of garbage dumped into Jakarta's rivers, but almost all rivers -- and other natural and man-made waterways -- are visibly clogged with garbage, believed to be the main cause of annual flooding in the capital. -- JP