O

n Sunday, I watched the rubbish collector pass my gate with a barrow-load of rubbish, mostly plastic bags full of plastic waste and I know that he will burn all of it at the same location as before. Our little hamlet will be filled with poisonous smoke and my children and pregnant wife will have to go to their friend'€™s house where there is no smoke from burning plastic waste.

Quite some time ago, I spoke personally to an official with the South Tangerang city, but although he smiled graciously, he did nothing and after a number of phone calls, claimed that he was too busy and that the problem would take time to resolve. I have heard that before '€” in fact I have been hearing that for the last four years '€” from different government personnel.

I had already written to the Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar and also received no response, but after my second letter, in which I added a petition with 27 signatures protesting the burning of rubbish in our neighborhood, one of her staff came to our house '€” this was over two months ago '€” to discuss the problem.

He called the rubbish collector and questioned him about the burning and this was all done in the presence of our local neighborhood unit (RT) head. A commitment was made to follow this matter up and resolve the issue. The subdistrict secretary arranged a meeting that was attended by concerned parties including the rubbish collector and again a commitment was made to stop the collection and burning of rubbish in our neighborhood.

Meanwhile, the rubbish collector continued to burn rubbish, albeit less frequently. One month later, the rubbish collector arranged for a man, an environmental activist, to give a demonstration on how to recycle rubbish.

It did seem as though some progress was being made, but it didn'€™t last long, just like the previous time when I asked the local sanitation department for help. Everyone shook hands, wrote documents, recorded times and names of people present and then went home satisfied that they had made a difference.

But nothing changes here. The rubbish is still burned at the same location and the local subdistrict is unable to resolve the issue. None of it comes to an end.

My neighbors shrug their shoulders and point out that without the exchange of money, nothing happens here. Nothing gets done unless you are willing to pay for it.

But, I say to my neighbor, does this mean that the man who collects and burns rubbish every day and pollutes our environment and poisons our children wins? My neighbor smiles sheepishly and nods his head. He tells me that as a Muslim he is taught to avoid confrontation or conflict in the neighborhood. But isn'€™t collecting and burning rubbish already a conflict? He smiles again and shakes his head this time. People traditionally burn their rubbish, he tells me, so unless there is an alternative solution then people will continue to burn their rubbish.

John C. Torr
South Tangerang, Banten