Army Chief Of Staff: 'Ciliwung Bening', First Step To Maintain Environmental Hygiene

Army Chief of Staff (KSAD) General TNI Maruli Simanjuntak, M.Sc emphasized that cleaning up Ciliwung rivers must always be done. (Doc KSAD)

JAKARTA - Army Chief of Staff (KSAD) General TNI Maruli Simanjuntak, M.Sc. led thousands of TNI soldiers in the activities of the Ciliwung River cleaning service entitled Ciliwung Bening. The activity, which was centered in Tambora area, West Jakarta, on Sunday (13/10/2024), is still part of a series of activities to commemorate the 79th Anniversary of the TNI.

On that occasion, the Army Chief of Staff hoped that the cleaning of the Ciliwung River should not only be carried out when commemorating a big day, especially after the disaster (flood) had already occurred. Instead, this positive activity is carried out as the first step to maintain environmental cleanliness in a sustainable manner.

"Don't wait for someone's birthday or wait for the river to be full (sand), let alone a disaster (flood). Hopefully, with this we will find a formula for how to protect the river in the long term, so that it can be followed (as a model) throughout Indonesia," said the Army Chief of Staff.

The 'Ciliwung Bening' activity involved more than 35 thousand personnel consisting of the TNI (AD, AU, AL), the Environment Service, PPSU, and the community. The cleaning action was carried out for more than 82 kilometers in the Ciliwung River area.

The Army Chief of Staff also explained the Indonesian Army's innovation which played a major role in the cleanliness of waters in Indonesia, namely pontoon boats to clean rivers and lakes from hyacinth and garbage. Not to forget, he also invited the entire community to love nature, especially rivers, by not littering and continuing to maintain environmental cleanliness.

In addition to cleaning rivers, the series of TNI's 79th Anniversary is also filled with various social service activities, such as cleaning places of worship, markets, parks, and road repairs.