Rubbish pile at Angke Flats reportedly once collapsed shop wall

Jakarta (ANTARA) - A pile of rubbish in the Rusunawa Angke area, Tambora, West Jakarta, is known to have once knocked down the wall of a vegetable seller’s shop in the location.

The shop owner, named Masruroh (67), said that the towering rubbish, reaching as high as her shop’s roof some time ago, became increasingly heavy due to the abundance of wet waste.

“Even my wall collapsed, broken because it was holding that rubbish. The rubbish piled up to the top,” said Masruroh to reporters at the location on Monday.

Although most of the rubbish has been carted away by cleaning staff, she mentioned that local residents have long been dumping waste beside her shop.

“In the past, people didn’t throw rubbish here. Now, it’s from everywhere, the smell is terrible, and the rubbish isn’t collected for months,” said Masruroh.

Nevertheless, she admitted she has no choice but to endure because her children still do not have stable jobs to this day.

She continues to sell her vegetables even though it’s just a few steps from the rubbish pile teeming with maggots and leachate water flowing everywhere.

“Sometimes maggots even come out, but what can I do, my children aren’t settled yet, sometimes they work, sometimes not. So, I trade, and sometimes I even sleep here,” said Masruroh.

“I want it clean, whoever is in charge, the important thing is I want it clean and safe,” Masruroh expressed.

Observations at the location on Monday afternoon showed that the rubbish, which previously filled the alley between buildings in the area, is starting to look clean after staff carried out the removal.

However, remnants of domestic waste are still scattered at several points in the Rusunawa Angke complex.

A pungent odour is still strongly detectable because the rubbish has been accumulating for quite a long time.