Residents complain of sewage disposal

Multa Fidrus The Jakarta Post Tangerang

When people call the environmental agency to pump out the contents of their septic tanks, many do not realize that the truck drivers dump the untreated sewage in canals and rivers crossing Tangerang city.

This occurrence was witnessed by The Jakarta Post over the weekend when drivers from both Tangerang regency and municipal environmental agencies dumped raw sewage into the Sipon canal on Jl. TMP Taruna, Tangerang, although there was an announcement board banning the dumping of sewage in the river.

The practice is incongruous considering that the duty of both agencies is to maintain the environment and to prevent damage to and pollution of the environment as stipulated in Bylaw No. 20/2000 on the environment.

One of the drivers, told the Post that they usually carried the waste to a 40,000-square-meter household waste treatment site that has eight oxidation ponds in Perumnas Karawaci.

"Since the road access to the site is damaged, drivers are reluctant to go there and instead have opted to dispose of the sewage here," he said.

The Tangerang municipal agency chief, Maryoso, could not be reached for comment. His staff said Maryoso rarely came to the office.

Truck drivers started their dumping activities at 8 a.m. and ended at 3 p.m. The sewage was transported by yellow trucks belonging to both agencies.

Trucks appeared from the direction of Jl. LP Pemuda and Jl. TMP Taruna. The drivers then parked their trucks by the canal bank under a shady tree. Both the driver and his assistant then pulled out a pipe and directed it into the 1.5 meter wide canal.

A few minutes later, the sewage was piped into the canal which quickly turned dark.

Pedestrians, who pass the site popularly known as the Portal area near the Tangerang Youth Penitentiary, must cover their noses due to the terrible odor from the sewage.

When the Post approached the site, several men scrambled to offer sewage disposal services, asking: "Do you want to have your septic tank cleaned?".

Madsuni, a 56-year-old resident who lives near the site, said at least 15 trucks dump sewage into the canal every day.

"One truck usually dumps sewage three times a day. If there are 15 trucks on average, dumping sewage three times a day, the canal that flows into the Cisadane river must accommodate sewage from 45 trucks per day," he said.

"I think the waste disposal into the canal is potentially damaging to the environment and has polluted the Cisadane river from which the Tangerang tap water company (PDAM) take water for household consumption."

Madsuni, who could not recall how long the dumping had taken place, has called on the agencies, along with other residents, to stop sewage dumping.

For Acang, a 45-year-old food vendor near the site, the odor resulting from the dumping is an annoyance to him and his customers.

"The bad odor can even stick to your clothes. If you don't believe me, go and stand there for five minutes. Your clothes will stink," he said.

"I don't understand why the agencies dump sewage into the river. My business here is disturbed by the smell and the dumping but I cannot do anything to stop them."