West Sumatra Governor Asks Residents To Stop Throwing Garbage Into The River

West Sumatra Governor Mahyeldi when visiting a mosque in Solok Regency/Photo: Antara

AROSUKA - West Sumatra Governor Mahyeldi reminded residents to stop the habit of throwing garbage in rivers which cause environmental damage. Darussalam Grand Mosque, Nagari Koto Gadang Koto Anau, Lembang Jaya District, Solok Regency, Saturday 9 April evening.

According to him, waste can still provide economic benefits to the community, it can be collected, sorted and processed properly.

"If the waste is organic, later it can be used as fertilizer, so animal feed through fermentation, or it could be a medium for cultivating maggot for chicken feed. In Kampar, Riau, there are those who develop this maggot, a day they can earn more than Rp. 10 million," he said, quoted by Antara.

He understands that organic waste processing requires certain theoretical and practical knowledge. Therefore, he planned to provide training on organic waste management for communities around the river, including residents of Koto Gadang Koto Anau.

"Later we can train the youth to use organic waste to be efficient and provide income economically," he said.

Not only organic waste, said the governor, plastic waste can also have use value if it is processed. Plastic waste products are now widely used by industry as alternative fuels.

"The plastic has now been processed. It could be used as fuel, then sold to PT Semen Padang. Later we can also train (process plastic waste) and help with tools to chop it," he said.

Meanwhile, the Head of the West Sumatra Environment Service, Siti Aisyah, admitted that waste has become a threat to West Sumatra if it is not processed and sorted.

"Some of our final waste processing sites (TPA) in West Sumatra are full. Now we are trying to anticipate this.