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Minister challenges Anies to restore Lake Sunter
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The footpath along the northern shore of North Jakarta's Lake Sunter is seen in this Nov. 16 file photograph. (kompas.com/Setyo Adi)
M
aritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti has challenged Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan in a viral video to restore Lake Sunter in North Jakarta so that it was as clean and well organized as the lakes in Geneva, Switzerland.
"Now that he has the power and authority, I am sure that he can restore Lake Sunter this way, don’t you agree? Let’s tell this to Pak Anies…" Susi said in a video on Wednesday that has gone viral on social media. She was videotaped during her recent working visit to the Annual UN Forum on Business and Human Rights (FBHR), held on Nov. 27-29 in Geneva.
Responding to Susi’s challenge, Anies said he was committed to cleaning up Jakarta's lakes. "We will work on them one by one, so the lakes and rivers have clear and clean waters," he said on Wednesday.
However, Anies said he also wanted the central government's support in cleaning up the garbage in Jakarta Bay, because the garbage did not come entirely from the city's residents, but was also brought in by the tide from elsewhere.
Jakarta Water Resource Agency head Teguh Hendarwan said the agency had been working since 2016 to restore Lake Sunter by dredging the lake and installing sheet piles along the northern and southern shores of the lake.
He said the remaining work was to clean the water. "We have to filter the water, because the basic problem is waste, including industrial waste that is dumped [into the lake]," Teguh said. (dis)
