80 officers to collect trash in E. Jakarta

JAKARTA: East Jakarta municipality has assigned 80 officers to collect trash on streets in a bid to retain the Adipura award, a national award for city cleanliness, an official said Wednesday.

The officers, riding bicycle trash bins, zip through streets of the municipality to look for trash and collect it.

An official in charge of trash collection, Made Sudhiarta, said the special collectors would help the existing street sweepers ensure cleanliness in the 10 districts in the municipality.

"We don't want to lose the Adipura award. This special task force is meant to clean up the area unreachable by the street sweepers," Made was quoted as saying by beritajakarta.com.

East Jakarta Deputy Mayor Asep Syarifudin said the municipality would face stiffer competition to retain the award, warning that some cities, like Palembang, Bekasi and Surabaya, could become strong contenders for East Jakarta.

Last year, East Jakarta won the award, along with Central Jakarta, South Jakarta and North Jakarta. Other big cities winning the award were Semarang, Palembang, Malang, Pekanbaru, Denpasar and Balikpapan. - JP