Jakartans Lament The Sorry State Of The Capital’s Rivers

Photo retrieved from: www.thejakartapost.com

“The Jakarta Environmental Management Agency (BPLHD) reported that none of Jakarta’s rivers could be qualified as being in good condition. According to the BPLHD, 71 percent of the city’s river water is heavily polluted, 20 percent is partly polluted, and 9 percent is lightly polluted.

Ateng Muhammad Ganipia, 52, a motorcycle taxi driver, said he realized that the city’s filthy rivers were a reflection of the residents’ attitude toward and lack of awareness about the need to maintain the rivers.

Ateng described the East Flood Canal in South Jakarta during his childhood as “clean and deep”.

“I remember when my friends and I played and jumped into the river. We used to sing out an ‘anthem’ for the canal, reflecting the bond of the children with the river,” he said, and then sang the “anthem”.

Ateng is not the only person who wishes the city’s rivers were clean.

Endang Kustana, 56, a food stall owner in Cideng, Central Jakarta, said that he missed the days when the Cideng river was clean during his childhood.

“I remember that people washed their dishes in the water,” the native Jakartan said.”

Read more: The Jakarta Post