Falls Directly Clean Up The Garbage Of The Cipinang River, Begins The Breakthrough Of Minister LH Hanif Faisol Overcoming River Pollution In Jakarta

Minister of Environment (LH)/Head of the Environmental Control Agency (BPLH), Hanif Faisol Nurofiq. (Photo: Special)

JAKARTA - The Minister of Environment (LH)/Head of the Environmental Control Agency (BPLH), Hanif Faisol Nurofiq invites the public to be actively involved in the conservation and improvement of river water quality program. This is part of efforts to improve river quality throughout Indonesia.

The breakthrough to overcome river pollution began with a River Cleaning Action in the Cipinang Watershed (DAS), on Friday 1 November. Minister of Environment and Forestry Hanif Faisol Nurofiq accompanied by Deputy Minister of Environment and Forestry, Diaz Faisal Malik, immediately cleaned up the garbage, most of which came from domestic waste.

In today's River Cleaning Action, 2,342.24 kg of waste was collected from seven segments of the Cipinang river in the area behind the KLH office. This cleaning covers an area of approximately 1 km and is attended by 717 participants consisting of KLH, UPK Water Agency, Ciliwung River Basin Center (BBWS) Cisadane, DKI Environmental Service, and local residents.

"Our activities this morning are to set an example, only a little earlier while exercising, but actually the main problem is long. There are many challenges that we have to build here to solve them. Thank you, friends. The media are also here to resonance on what we did together this morning," said Minister LH Hanif in a press statement to the media.

This activity involves various parties including related Ministries/Agencies, Provincial and Regency/City Governments, the private sector, the environmental community, and the wider community.

On this occasion, Minister LH Hanif invited all parties to increase togetherness again, especially in dealing with environmental problems in Jakarta. Jakarta with 11.4 million residents, said Minister LH Hanif, is a city with a fairly heavy environmental burden.

"Of the three indicators of IKLH Jakarta, namely the water quality index, the air quality index, and the land cover index, the three are very concerning. We must be able to strengthen Jakarta's resilience in its environmental aspects," he said.

Minister Hanif emphasized that this waste management effort must be seriously built. The big steps have been drawn up and continuously monitored. He is also committed to strengthening all instruments that have been issued by the Provincial Government.

Furthermore, Minister Hanif and his staff will also immediately take law enforcement steps related to this condition, even if necessary, a criminal process will be taken.

"We will not back down. This is to pay attention to the public, we at the KLH really take care of Indonesia, because we are in Jakarta so we will finish Jakarta first," he said.

Even so, Minister Hanif said it was certainly not easy. Therefore, for handling waste, his party tries to build a scenario by involving all parties. To be sure, he emphasized that the Ministry of Environment will strictly prohibit the issuance of food waste produced in office areas, buildings, restaurants, etc.

"If necessary, we will carry out law enforcement, we will fine it, because the Government Regulation for collecting fines already exists," he said.

For information, this pollution is mostly sourced from domestic waste, including bathing, washing, toilet (MCK), and illegal waste. During a dialogue with residents, Minister LH Hanif received a report that in RW 02, Cipinang Besar Selatan Village, it was found that there was a dumping site by a tanker from a extract service. Minister Hanif stated that this was a serious concern for the government.

As the first step in waste management in the Cipinang watershed, KLH has installed waste nets in three main areas, namely Pekayon, Makassar Village and South Cipinang Besar. Garbage at these three points is collected regularly by PPSA officers from the DKI Jakarta Environment Agency (DLH).

This water quality improvement movement will continue within 100 working days of KLH/BPLH at Ciliwung, Bengawan Solo, and Brantas watersheds.

"The planned intervention program includes a Riparian arrangement (riverside area); guidance on the surrounding river industry; construction of a Communal Wastewater Processing Installation (IPAL) for the management of domestic waste and small businesses; clean movement of rivers with communities along the watershed; and optimization of river patrol task forces to prevent pollution," explained Hanif.

This program is in line with the revitalization of the Clean River Program (Prokasih) which is now the main focus of local governments in improving the quality of river water in their respective regions. The success of the implementation of Prokasih will be measured in the Environmental Response Index (IRLH) which is assessed every year by KLH/BPLH.