River water quality still deteriorating

JAKARTA (JP): The quality of the city's river water is deteriorating as a result of the dumping of household and industrial waste, a city official said yesterday

Prawoto S. Danoemihardjo, the city secretary's assistant in charge of development administration, said that the deterioration of the water quality was mainly caused by liquid household waste, the major pollutant of Jakarta's rivers.

He said that the river water pollution is related to, among other causes, the uncontrolled growth of slum areas along the city's riverbanks.

Data collected last year shows that biological oxygen demand (BOD) level in the Citarum River fluctuated between 5.2 and 31 milligrams per liter, while the river's chemical oxygen demand (COD) level was between 233 and 267 milligrams per liter. The tolerable limit is 17.6 milligrams for BOD and 35.21 milligrams for COD.

The Citarum River flows from West Java's Jatiluhur dam to Jakarta through many open canals which are used as dumping sites by residents.

The city administration has carried out a number of programs aimed at reducing the various forms of pollution afflicting the city's rivers, Prawoto said. However, "the water pollution still occurs," he added.

He acknowledged that the city administration still lacks the human resources, the environmental technology and the funds needed to solve the problem of river pollution. "We hope that the situation will, step by step, be improved," he said.

Prawoto was speaking at the opening of a one-day course on river water pollution.

The course was participated in by 15 government officials 135 representatives of hotels and hospitals.

Prawoto urged the officials and the industrial representatives to dispose of liquid waste correctly and to uphold environmental laws.

He said that coordination between central government offices and the city administration is badly needed in efforts to improve the environment.(32)