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Diapers commonly end up in Jakarta rivers
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Workers clean debris that stuck in Manggarai Floodgate in South Jakarta on May 8. . (JP/Wendra Ajistyatama)
W
orkers of the water unit of the Jakarta Environment Agency regularly find disposable diaper wastes among other trash in rivers of Jakarta.
Yayat Muhtar, 48, one of the workers of the Jakarta Environment Agency stationed in Jagakarsa, South Jakarta, said he and other workers found diaper waste daily in Jakarta rivers, from single diapers to big sacks full of used diapers.
“If ordinary people look at nasi uduk [coconut steamed rice] for breakfast every morning, we look at [used] Pampers every morning,” Yayat said on Monday, referring to a diaper brand.
“Maybe people don’t know how to process diaper waste themselves, so they just dump it into the river. And in the end, we are the ones that have to pick it up,” Yayat added.
Wandi Setiawan, 27, another worker of the Jakarta Environment Agency stationed in Jagakarsa, also said that he commonly found diaper waste and had even seen people dump them in the river.
“Just yesterday when I was scooping up trash from the river, I saw somebody dump a plastic bag, which turned out to be filled with diaper waste,” Wandi said.
According to data from the Jakarta Environment Agency, the city produced a total 2.3 million tons of waste in 2015, some of which went to Jakarta rivers and must be scooped out by the water unit of the Jakarta Environment Agency daily. (ami/wit)
