Padang City Government Seeks Foreign Ministry Support to Raise Batang Arau Revitalisation Issue

The Padang City Government (Pemko Padang) hopes for support from the Republic of Indonesia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs to raise the issue of Batang Arau River revitalisation in the agenda of the high-level meeting between Indonesia and Germany to be held in Jakarta. This was stated by Padang Mayor Fadly Amran during a meeting with the Secretary General of the Republic of Indonesia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Denny Abdi, at Rumah Makan Silungkang on Monday, 13 April 2026. Fadly Amran conveyed that efforts to organise and clean the Batang Arau River have a technical study prepared by the German side. However, to date, the programme has not entered the implementation stage. Based on strategic recommendations from German GIZ, the revitalisation of the Batang Arau River can be carried out through the construction of a central Wastewater Treatment Installation (IPAL) with Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor (MBBR) technology. MBBR technology is considered efficient in processing wastewater by utilising special plastic media (carrier) as a place for pollutant-degrading bacteria to grow and develop. In addition, the wastewater piping system is designed to be completely separate from the rainwater drainage network. “We hope that this Batang Arau River revitalisation can be included as one of the discussion points in the upcoming bilateral meeting, so that it can encourage more concrete cooperation realisation,” said Fadly Amran. The Secretary General of the Republic of Indonesia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Denny Abdi, said he would push for the Batang Arau revitalisation issue to become part of the discussion in the official forum between Indonesia and Germany. “The proposal from the Padang City Government will be followed up and encouraged to become part of the discussion agenda in the Indonesia-Germany bilateral forum. Environmental issues like this have strong relevance in cooperation between the two countries,” he said.