Rivers still used as dumping sites

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)