Sanitation agency racing against time to clear rivers

Triwik Kurniasari ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Sat, 01/17/2009 8:58 PM  |  Jakarta

The city sanitation agency is flexing its muscles to clean up mounds of flotsam and jetsam from the city rivers for fear another flood could hit the city soon, an official said Saturday.

The agency’s head, Eko Bahruna, said they had deployed 842 dump trucks and 500 officers from five municipalities to dredge out the garbage floodwaters carried downstream and into main streets and neighborhoods through the metropolitan area since Tuesday.

“We are focusing on some flood-prone areas, such as areas along the Ciliwung, Pesanggrahan [in South Jakarta] and Sunter [North Jakarta] Rivers,” Eko told The Jakarta Post.

He said more than 20,000 cubic meters of garbage had piled up following heavy rains during the past few days.

The biggest solid waste mound, around 1,800 cubic meters of waste, accumulated at Kalibata Bridge in South Jakarta, he said.

“The space beneath the bridge was clogged with garbage. It was just like the pile of garbage that had been blocking the Manggarai sluice gate [also in South Jakarta], which couldn't pass the bridge because of the high waters,” said Eko.

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