KLH urges Kupang City to become a "role model" for waste management in NTT

Kupang, NTT (ANTARA) - The Ministry of Environment and Forestry (KLH) is urging Kupang City to become a role model for an integrated waste management system in East Nusa Tenggara Province (NTT). “I see a strong commitment in Kupang City. This is important because, as the provincial capital, Kupang should set an example. We want one region in NTT to become a role model, and Kupang City has the potential for that,” said Haruki Agustina, Director of Climate Change Mitigation at KLH, in Kupang on Thursday. She conveyed this during an audience with Kupang Mayor Christian Widodo and his local government team. In the meeting, she appreciated the commitment and progressive steps taken by the Kupang City Government (Pemkot) in overhauling the waste management system. She firmly urged Kupang City to emerge as the face of change in NTT. This support is based on the improvement in Kupang City’s waste management performance from 41.93 to 50.8 according to the latest assessment. Although still in the development category, this trend is seen as a positive signal towards more significant improvements. The central government is targeting more ambitious increases, with a push for a rise of up to 15 points, surpassing the national minimum target. “If it only rises by 10, that’s not maximal. I want Kupang City to rise higher. We’re pushing together so it can become a real example,” she emphasised. To realise this, KLH is ready to provide full assistance, from enhancing human resource capacity, strengthening community extension systems, to encouraging collaboration with the private sector through corporate social and environmental responsibility (TJSL) programmes. Haruki said one strategy to be developed is a pilot project for integrated waste management based on sub-districts with a zero-waste concept. She stressed that the key to success lies in changing community behaviour, which must be supported by consistent and integrated service systems. As a concrete step, the central government is also encouraging the involvement of cross-sectoral extension workers, including from the National Population and Family Planning Board (BKKBN) and health workers, to strengthen education on waste sorting at the source. According to her, with stronger synergy between the central and local governments, Kupang City is now on the right track to transform into a pilot city for waste management in NTT, even potentially becoming an inspiration for other regions in Indonesia. “If one city in NTT succeeds, it will become a gateway for change for the others. We believe Kupang City can start that,” she stated. Meanwhile, Kupang Mayor Christian Widodo affirmed the full readiness of Pemkot Kupang to transform and address these challenges. “We realise that building a waste management system is not an instant task. But we have a strong commitment. We’re starting from zero, building a clear roadmap from upstream to downstream,” he said. He explained that Kupang City currently produces around 267 tonnes of waste per day. For this, the city government has designed a region-based management system, with a target for each sub-district to have an Integrated Waste Processing Site (TPST), so that only residue is disposed of at the landfill. “We no longer want to just move waste from one point to another. There must be processing. Our target is only 15 percent residue entering the landfill,” he clarified. Nevertheless, he acknowledged that the biggest challenge remains public awareness and participation. “Changing habits is not easy. But we won’t stop. We’re continuously educating, from schools, churches, to the neighbourhood level,” he said. The meeting concluded with an agreement to strengthen coordination and ongoing assistance, including periodic progress monitoring.