Pekanbaru, the provincial capital of Riau, is drowning under a sea of trash following a strike carried out by hundreds of garbage truck drivers. The workers claim that they have not been paid for two months.

Piles of trash can be seen everywhere, from Pekanbaru’s main thoroughfares to small streets and housing complexes, releasing an unpleasant smell throughout the city.

The city’s traditional markets have become temporary dump sites, with no trucks appearing to transport the city’s garbage to the Muara Fajar final dump site (TPA).

The parking lot at Panam market, for example, is slowly filling up with garbage bins and boxes. At Arengka market, traders have had to shift their kiosks as the garbage has well and truly encroached on the site where some 20 traders usually display their merchandise.

“How can we attract buyers if we stay there? It’s really smelly,” Masriman, a fish trader, said on Monday.

He said that the garbage trucks had not showed up for days, adding that the city administration had continued to collect the Rp 5,000 garbage levy from traders despite the absence of the service.

Hundreds of drivers and personnel employed by PT Multi Inti Guna (MIG), the sole garbage transport operator, have been on strike, claiming that they have not received their salary for the past two months. The company won the Rp 53 billion bid to transport garbage from the city’s eight districts to the TPA. Similar strikes were also conducted on March 25 and April 8.

PT MIG’s operational manager Wawan said the drivers had started their strike last Friday. In anticipation, he added, he had reported the strike to the city administration and claimed that the city’s Park Management Agency (DKP) had taken over the task of transporting the garbage to the TPA.

Wawan said his company had twice received warnings from the city administration for failing to perform its duty according to the agreed contract. PT MIG’s working contract with the city administration is due to end in December 2016.

Secretary of the city legislative council’s Commission IV overseeing sanitary affairs, Ali Suseno, said his commission had scheduled a hearing with MIG and the DKP. He wants a permanent solution to end the case.

“I don’t understand why the salary problem continues to reoccur,” he said.

Another councilor, Zulfan Hafiz, asked the city administration to cut the contract with PT MIG and return the responsibility for garbage management back to the respective district administrations.

Pekanbaru Mayor Firdaus expressed disappointment over PT MIG’s performance.

“We hired a third party based on the expectation that garbage management in the city would be quicker, better and cleaner. Instead, it has become chaotic,” he said, adding that his administration would soon cut the contract with the company.

Head of the City Park Management Agency, Edwin Supradana, said 136 garbage trucks were ready to transport the garbage to the TPA, but emphasized that only 33 drivers were currently available. He said more drivers would be recruited.

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