W

ithout a proper waste management system in place, household and plastic waste produced by locals and visitors is now piling up in the Karimunjawa islands, hampering tourism activities in one of Central Java'€™s most popular holiday destinations.

Often dubbed the '€œBali'€ of Central Java, Karimunjawa, located in Jepara regency, has for several years been a favorite destination for domestic and foreign tourists, thanks to its fresh air and coral reefs.

The increasing number of visitors and the burgeoning tourism business, however, has created new environmental problems for the region, which consists of 27 islands with white sand beaches.

Jasmar, a local tour guide, for example, said he had been upset with the increasing amount of used plastic water bottles and Styrofoam food containers found scattered on the beaches of the islands.

'€œVisitors carried those bottles and containers from outside the islands or bought them in local shops. Many of them, however, left the waste behind after completing their trip,'€ he told The Jakarta Post recently.

Head of the local tour guide association Arif Rahman said the latest data showed that there were between 1,000 and 1,500 tourists visiting Karimunjawa every week. Many of them, he said, visited the islands during weekends.

If a tourist consumes up to four bottles of drinking water during their trip to the islands, Karimunjawa must deal with around 6,000 used bottles every week, according to Jasmar.

'€œI am so disturbed with the situation. Our beautiful islands will likely turn to become an island of garbage should the mounting waste be left unmanaged,'€ he said.

The Post'€™s observations during a visit to Karimunjawa last week found that people visiting the islands, particularly domestic tourist, did not seem to care about preserving the local environment, as many of them preferred to litter.

At Karimunjawa Square, the islands'€™ culinary center, strong winds, which usually emerge in the evening, often make scattered plastic waste fly around, disturbing tourists who are enjoying their meals.

While the increasing number of tourists has helped developed Karimunjawa'€™s tourism sector, the absence of a reliable waste management system has also made it difficult for business players to promote ecofriendly operations.

The area currently has more than 100 homestays and hotels. Many of them, however, do not prepare separate garbage bins for plastic and organic waste. All types of garbage go to the same bins.

'€œOfficers from the local administration come every day to collect the garbage and dump it in an open dumpsite,'€ said Zainal Wafa, the owner of Gemilang homestay, referring to a plot of swampland where the local administration has been piling the islands'€™ garbage for the past few decades.

German national Hans-Peter Gaspers, who runs a cafe in Karimunjawa, meanwhile, said his willingness to introduce an ecofriendly operation had been impeded by a lack of knowledgeable staff.

'€œI have asked my cooks to keep the organic and non-organic waste in different bins. Unfortunately, they still like to mix them in one place, such that I have to repeatedly remind them about it,'€ Gaspers said.