Ministry Of Finance Calls Padang Must Be Effective In Waste Management To Reduce Expenditures

Illustration (Photo: Doc. ANTARA)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Finance (Kemenkeu) through the Directorate General of Treasury (DJPb) of West Sumatra Province (West Sumatra) encourages the Padang City Government to be more effective in managing waste to reduce operational costs of Rp42.2 billion.

"DJPb sees that the tens of billions of budgets can still be reduced with a note that we can manage and process waste more effectively," said Head of West Sumatra Provincial DJPb Syukriah as reported by ANTARA, Thursday, February 13.

Based on data compiled by West Sumatra DGT, Padang City produces around 643 tons of waste per day in 2023, this figure continues to increase as the population increases.

In 2023 the government will disburse waste management costs of Rp. 30.1 billion and increase to Rp. 42.2 billion in 2024. In fact, if the waste managed is more effective, the tens of billions of budget can be transferred to other more important programs such as education and health.

As an extension of the Ministry of Finance at the provincial level, West Sumatra DGT is of the view that the waste must be used as something of economic value, for example processed into fertilizer or alternative fuel.

"This waste is actually potential income if we can process it into organic fertilizer or alternative fuel," he said.

Moreover, if you look at the volume of waste which is more than 600 tons daily, 60 percent of which is an organic waste category that can be reprocessed into fertilizer.

Meanwhile, Acting Mayor of Padang Andree Algamar said the Ministry of Finance Cares for Waste program was in line with national and global commitments in realizing zero waste in 2050.

Andree said that almost 70 percent of the garbage in Padang City is organic waste.

Of that amount, 63 percent are food waste, 12.4 percent are plastic waste and the rest are from other types.

He said that hard efforts were needed in managing waste in Padang City, which had been more dominantly dumped into the final disposal site than being processed into something of economic value.