The government of West Java collaborates with non-governmental organizations to manage river waste

Bandung, W Java (ANTARA) - West Java's provincial government is collaborating with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) -- Waste4Change and Sungai Watch -- to address the waste problem in 100 locations of rivers spread across Bekasi District, Bekasi City, and Karawang District.

Director of Waste4Change M. Bijaksana Junerosano stated on Monday that the step to handle waste in the three regions of West Java was motivated by the critically worrisome waste problem.

"Through this collaboration, we intervene, so that the waste does not enter the ocean," Junerosano stated as quoted from the West Java Provincial Government Public Relations' press release.

Junerosano noted that his side had started building collaboration with the regional government of West Java. His organization had also held discussions with representatives from the Coordinating Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Investment, Ministry of Environment and Forestry, Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing, the West Java government, the Bekasi city government, and the founder of Sungai Watch, Gary Bencheghib.

He affirmed that those aforementioned parties responded to the initiative well and expressed their readiness to support.

In addition, Junerosano revealed that they had mapped the locations for waste handling and surveyed the sites along with the Sungai Watch team.

He noted that before this collaboration with the West Java government, his organization had held the Bekasi River Cleanup movement, which was a form of cooperation to handle waste between Waste4Change and the Bekasi city government supported by the CSR from abroad.

"During the Bekasi River Cleanup, we used the 'See Hamster,' or an environmentally friendly boat, that uses solar power along with a basecamp or charging station with zero-emission. The waste was processed, wherein organic waste was converted into compost and inorganic waste was sold, while the residual waste, which was around 30 percent, was sent to the disposal area," he expounded.

According to the Waste4Change director, the plan to clean up the trash in the river is a solution to deal with the trash that had already entered the river.

He affirmed that the same scheme will be implemented in cleaning waste at 100 locations of rivers in two districts and a city in West Java in 2022.