T

he image of Ciliwung River, murky and choked with garbage from decades of misuse, is for many the symbol of Jakarta's neglect toward the environment and serious ongoing pollution troubles.

The river flows from the highlands of Bogor, winds through Tanah Abang in Central Jakarta and finally ends at the Sunda Kelapa port and Marina beach in North Jakarta.

Residents treat the midstream sections as a dump, leading to an enormous accumulation of garbage at many of the sluice gates across the city.

Despite a temporary dump site being located near the banks of the Ciliwung in Petamburan, Central Jakarta, and security guards monitoring the area, residents still throw garbage into the river whenever the guards take a break.

Only three officers, Petamburan residents claim, are assigned by the community and neighborhood units to patrol the river, with their break hours falling between 4 a.m. and 7 a.m.

Diono, a fruit salesmen at the Pintu Air traditional market in Petamburan, said he regularly sees residents dumping their trash around dawn.

"They throw away trash in plastic bags when the security guards are away," he said.

Another vendor said between five and 10 people would normally approach the river around dawn, and throw away household trash.

Ridwan Panjaitan, head of law enforcement from the City Environmental Management Agency (BPLHD), said his agency had found it difficult to deal with those who litter.

"We hear of many cases like this. This type of activity makes it very difficult for us to clean up Ciliwung," he said Friday.

The enforcement of bylaw No.8/2007, which he said prohibits dumping trash into river systems, was not effective on its own when security efforts were limited. The bylaw states that anyone caught throwing garage into a river can face up to 60 days in prison or be slapped with fines of up to Rp 20 million.

BPLHD chemical and biological data shows that pollution levels are highest in the river sections around Marina and Pantai Indah Kapuk in West Jakarta.

Research by the agency into the ongoing issue of pollution has found there are seven major points where residents dump trash into the river.

Ridwan, however, did not explain why his agency had not targeted these known problematic areas.

Another issue is that garbage leads to the river becoming narrower and shallower, which increases the risk of flooding during the rainy season.

In an effort to curb littering, BPLHD plans to launch a campaign to raise community awareness about the dangers of polluting the river system.