Project Jakarta: Arming a kampong with awareness
Project Jakarta: Arming a kampong with awareness
Pritam Narula and Andrew Briggs, Grade 10, Jakarta International School (JIS)
"Faster, farther, cheaper and deeper," wrote Thomas Freedman in The Lexus and the Olive Tree. Our world is one interrelated society where borders are open for trade and where horizons seem ever so broad.
However, as the public open their eyes to the benefits of urban life, little does our industrial society know that sustainable development will soon be out of our reach, and that our children will face the danger of environmental destruction caused by industrialization.
About five weeks ago [around mid-March], my classmate Andrew and I started a group to take action as [part of] a project at Jakarta International School, to try and make a difference here in Jakarta, a city facing problems associated with rapid development.
Jakarta once held a reputation for being a sluggish township, yet over the past 20 years, it has transformed into a booming Asian metropolis. However, with a hastily growing population exceeding nine million people, the city's pollution problems, due to urbanization and other factors, are increasing. As more people migrate to the city in search of opportunity, the situation will worsen.
As Indonesia continues to develop in the areas of telecommunications, transportation and technology, more rural dwellers will feel tempted to move to the big city, because only a small percentage of these new technologies are available in their area.
Yet, how does urbanization affect the overall pollution problems in Jakarta?
As more people fill Jakarta, more waste will be produced by the city. More cars, trucks, buses, and production of goods (just to name a few) will be seen; therefore, more emissions of carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide will be produced, exacerbating the pollution in Jakarta.
This rapid growth threatens to stretch the resources of Indonesia to the limit. In order to prevent such a prediction from becoming reality, people must take more responsibility for this city. Individuals, organizations and the government alike must take action before it is too late, and this is why Andrew and I tried to do our part to help combat pollution created by urbanization at a kampong in South Jakarta.
Before taking action, we wanted to see the pollution situation at the kampong, which is located near the Federal Express office. The kampong turned out just as we had expected: It was densely populated and plastic wrappers, soda cans and wooden popsicle sticks were scattered across the ground. The kampong itself did not have anywhere to dispose [its] garbage, except for one or two worn-down large containers. In addition, a lot of motorcycles crammed the small streets weaving through the kampong. Overall, the area was similar to what we expected, but the school system for its children was superb, compared to other local schools here in Jakarta.
Considering the severity of urbanization in the kampong, we realized that as only two people on a mission, we had to limit our scope to a small area. Despite this, our group was determined to contribute, to make even the slightest difference. In an effort to contribute, our group and several other JIS students organized a project to reduce pollution, promote the preservation of the local environment and measure the severity of urbanization.
After assessing the pollution situation in the area, we discovered that the core of the problem was that the inhabitants were not educated about the effects of pollution and they did not have a proper place to dispose their waste.
Therefore, Andrew and I went to a hardware store to purchase trash cans and we had already printed out posters encouraging the local community to throw [their] garbage into the garbage bins.
The second step was to actually spend a couple of hours at the kampong cleaning. We called up several friends to assist in this.
By the end of the day, we were extremely successful, as the dwellers started to understand the objective of our visit. Before departing, I had a chat with a respected kampong elder, and I asked him to make sure that the trash cans we purchased (which were going to remain at the kampong) were to be used appropriately. I also asked that, instead of leaving trash on the ground, the trash can would be used whenever necessary in order to preserve the cleanliness of the area.
After three weeks of periodical visits to clean, educate and assess, the project proved successful. There was a clear reduction in the amount of road-side trash, and young children were increasingly mindful of disposing of their garbage properly.
Seeing that such a small-scale project was successful, we believe that everyone has the potential to make a difference.
We were also overcome by the amount of progress that could be made if non-governmental organizations, or even the government, did more to control urbanization. Large-scale action, such as regional planning to appropriately distribute health, educational and entertainment services to rural areas outside Jakarta, could relieve the city of its currently high rural-to-urban population influx.
Other solutions such as "smart growth" could be implemented, which revolve compact cities with high-density development and mixed land uses. This would reduce the number of shantytowns within Jakarta and limit the city's "pancake style" expansion.
Overall, something must be done to address urbanization, and action must be taken on any scale.
Andrew and I, merely two individuals, proved, using only the resources available to us, that making a difference was achievable. We urge that the inhabitants of this city take action and help reduce pollution, because if we work together, we can work wonders.