Tirtayasa River In Serang Turns Into Trash, Black Water And Bau

A child walks across a river filled with garbage in Lontar Village, Tirtayasa District, Serang Regency, Monday (15/7/2024). (ANTARA)

SERANG - The river stream is approximately 500 meters long in Lontar Village, Tirtayasa District, Serang Regency, Banten is filled with plastic waste, thus hampering the flow of water. Based on ANTARA's monitoring at the location, Monday, July 16, piles of garbage seemed to cover the river flow which was dominated by household plastic waste. Even the water was black and caused an unpleasant odor when walking along the river. The height of the garbage in the river is almost parallel to the road next to it, even the location of this river is exactly in residential areas. One of the residents, Juminah in Serang, admitted that the majority of the waste piles from the household waste had occurred for years. "Residents want to dispose of garbage where there is no place anymore. So it is thrown into the river. There is a trash can, ten days is also full," he said.

Juminah explained that the garbage in the village was not managed properly. This is because only trash cans are provided but no garbage trucks have been transported. Whereas previously, there was information that garbage transportation would be held and every citizen would have to pay the retribution. However, until now it has not been realized. According to Juminah, the river flow used to be quite wide and had a depth of about 2 meters. However, over time and continues to be used as a trash can, it has finally experienced a narrowing as well as a silting.

"In the past, the river was wide, often used to bathe by local residents," he added. As a result of the pile of garbage, Juminah and other residents admitted that they complained about the smell of very pungent garbage. In addition, the piled up waste also became a breeding ground for mosquitoes. "In the past there were mosquitoes, but not as bad as it is now. If the maghrib of mosquitoes runs out, there are a lot of mosquitoes," he explained.

Currently, the river flow is no longer used by residents to wash or take a bath because it is not feasible. He hopes that there will be attention from the relevant government to dredging and also provide garbage transportation for residents. So that later there will be no more residents throwing garbage into the river. "Now I just enjoy the smell too. But I want it to be dredged so that the water will flow again, then there is a garbage carrier here, we can't pay for it," he said. Other residents, Samsiah also complained about the same thing, namely the smell of garbage that interferes with and clogs the river flow. "It doesn't smell anymore, it smells really, it has been used for years as a waste disposal site by residents around the location. So that the longer it is piling up," he said.