Rivers still used as dumping sites

JAKARTA (JP): Many residents in Jakarta still use its rivers and waterways as garbage dumping sites, an environmentalist said.

Ade Christina, a Metropolitan Improvement Program of the World Bank staff member said that the garbage piling up in many city waterways could be cited as evidence, Antara reported over the weekend.

She said that about 5.9 percent, or 1,400 cubic meters out of 23,706 cubic meters of garbage, were dumped into the rivers in 1992, and only 23 percent of that 1,400 cubic meters of garbage has been dredged.

She said the limited number of trash bins in residential areas made people throw the garbage into canals. "Lots of people living in slum areas still have poor environmental awareness, and they do not know anything about the process of garbage management."

She also blamed the sanitation department for being too slow in collecting and transporting garbage from residential areas to the temporary dumping sites.

People need more knowledge about garbage handling and the environment, she said. (05)