Tumisih looked skeptical when she was told that a waste management system in which organic and non-organic garbage would be separated, was going to be implemented in her community.

The middle-aged housewife who lives in a densely populated neighborhood of Cakung, East Jakarta, said everyone in her neighborhood was accustomed to throwing all their trash into one plastic bag before disposing of it in a nearby dump.

'€œIt may be difficult for housewives here to embrace this new habit. They need to be continuously reminded,'€ she told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

Tumisih said that over the past two years, she had turned used plastic sachets into purses and bags, which were then sold for between Rp 15,000 (US$1.53) and Rp 150,000.

'€œThis business remains small because marketing is hard. Many people consider recycled products trash,'€ she said.

Lila Paramita, who lives in an apartment in Kalibata, South Jakarta, said that although her apartment building did not regulate waste separation, she thought it was a good idea.

'€œIt [the separation] is actually a good idea because I think it is gross when trash is mixed,'€ said the employee of a private company.

 The new city bylaw on waste management, which replaced Bylaw No. 5/1988, specifies a number of new responsibilities for residents, neighborhoods, companies and the administration as well as fines for those who do not comply.

Article 12 of the new bylaw requires residents to separate their organic and non-organic waste. Those who fail to do so will be fined by the community unit (RW). Meanwhile, managements of housing, commercial, industrial and special areas, must a provide waste management facility or they will be fined between Rp 10 million (US$1004) and Rp 50 million as regulated by Article 127.

Spatial planning expert Nirwono Joga said it would be unfair to implement all those sanctions without properly assisting in the waste management efforts.

'€œThe Sanitation Agency should find out which buildings do not have waste management facilities yet and then help them manage their garbage,'€ he said.

He said that the bylaw would require a massive campaign to succeed, as changing the paradigm would be more effective than merely penalizing people.

'€œChildren, for example, should be given good examples in school and through their parents on how to handle trash. If the familiarization is done properly, good waste management will be part of our culture in the next five to 10 years,'€ he told the Post.

Nirwono said applying the bylaw might be challenging as many Jakartans were not familiar with waste management. '€œTo date, I still see people littering on the streets,'€ he said.

Before implementing the bylaw, he said the agency should fix problems within itself by improving its human resources and garbage trucks.

Sanitation Agency head Unu Nurdin said that the agency would lead the dissemination of information on the new bylaw in the final quarter of the year. In the meantime, it would focus on procurement of new garbage trucks and building more temporary dumps.

Popular

RI, Australia strengthen partnership on taxing crypto assets

Analysis: Indonesia denies normalization with Israel to enter OECD

Citroen to produce electric cars in Indonesia