President Prabowo Subianto highlighted the environmental problems in Bali which were considered dirty due to garbage and asked the local government to involve school students in cleaning activities as part of efforts to overcome the problem, especially to maintain the attractiveness of tourism.
Prabowo said this when giving a briefing at the 2026 Central Government and Regional Government Rakornas at the Sentul International Convention Center, Bogor Regency, West Java, Monday, February 2.
"Sorry, governor, the regents from Bali, this is real, Bali December 2025, this is the beach of Bali, how can tourists come there to see the garbage? Governor, regent, high school, junior high school, elementary school under your control, what is the difficulty? On Saturday, Friday, all schoolchildren gather on this beach. This is our beach, this is our yard, let's clean it up together," said Prabowo as quoted by ANTARA.
Prabowo said he got information about the dirty condition of Bali full of garbage when he met a number of ministers and generals in South Korea.
"In Korea, I met figures in Korea, ministers, generals, sometimes soldiers anywhere, he did not use vulgar language, he talked as it was, he talked to me. He said 'Your Excellency, I just came from Bali, oh Bali so dirty now, Bali is not nice'. Wow, but I accepted it as a correction. We have to overcome this together," said Prabowo.
He said that the problem of waste has become a crucial problem nationally, including in Bali, while saying that many landfills are experiencing excess capacity in the next few years.
The condition of the Bali beach which is filled with garbage is considered to have the potential to reduce the interest of tourists and have an impact on the tourism sector which has been the main job absorber.
He encouraged local governments, especially in Bali, to mobilize students at the elementary, middle, and high school levels to be involved in volunteer activities to clean the environment, including coastal areas.
The activity, he said, can be carried out regularly by involving various elements, ranging from local governments, TNI and Polri officials, to state-owned enterprises.
He assessed that environmental cleaning efforts could not be carried out with a ceremonial approach or mutual blame, but through real and sustainable work.
The central government is ready to lead and support waste management measures if necessary for the public's benefit.
"All government agencies must lead the korve. School children are fine, 10 minutes in the morning, 15 minutes, half an hour. If it's hundreds, thousands, it's fast. What will be the capital? The capital is carts, trucks, garbage, and so on," he said.
The President also conveyed the plan to build 34 waste processing projects into energy in 34 cities which are targeted to be built in the near future and operate in about two years.
The project is expected to be part of a medium-term solution to reduce the burden of waste in the area.
He emphasized that environmental cleanliness is an important condition for the sustainability of tourism and public health.
In the near future, the government also plans to launch the Indonesia ASRI Movement (safe, healthy, secure, and beautiful), with all government agencies asked to take an active role in maintaining the cleanliness of their respective environments.
"Dandim, Danrem, I order you, move your men, korve, every day or every few days, korve, korve, korve. Police, move, korve, korve, korve. And among all BUMN, thousands of his men, korve," he said.
"I don't want to see plastic or garbage around state-owned enterprises. All KL ministers, before entering the office, at least half an hour to clean up your environment. Right? Don't be ready. At least half an hour, early in the morning before entering the office, if necessary, the minister who dreams. K/L-K/L all of that, all offices. We now have to declare war on garbage," he added.
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