T

he Bekasi River in West Java has become so polluted that both the Bekasi administration and civil society groups have called on the central government to step in to restore the river.

Head of Community Care for Cileungsi-Cikeas Rivers (KP2C) Puarman said the Cileungsi River, which along with the Cikeas River are tributaries of the Bekasi River, regularly turned dark and malodorous, especially during the dry season.

The Cileungsi and Cikeas rivers meet on the border of Bekasi and Bogor in West Java and when passing Bekasi the rivers become the Bekasi River.

“[The Cileungsi River] has been heavily polluted for two or three years now, and the heaviest was in May this year when the dry season was at its height,” Puarman told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

He said that because of the low water volume in the river during the dry season, the pollution in the river becomes more visible, including the industries that contribute to it.

According to six investigations that the KP2C conducted on the Cileungsi in August the river gets progressively dark and polluted as it moves downstream.

Puarman explained that in order to rehabilitate the river, the central government needed to step in since the river ran through several municipalities.

“Given that the river is a confluence of several rivers, it [rehabilitation] must be managed simultaneously,” he said.

Puarman said the KP2C also received reports from residents living near the river that they experienced difficulties in breathing, felt nauseous and even vomiting as a result of the foul smell emanating from the river.

He said there were at least 12 industrial units that were suspected of dumping untreated waste into the river, so he hoped the authorities could take firm action against them.

Bekasi Environment Agency head Jumhana Luthfi said the pollution in the Bekasi River was clearly visible during the dry season.

“When the water volume in the Bekasi River is high, the pollution is not so visible, unlike in the dry season when the water volume recedes,” Luthfi told the Post.

He said the agency had proposed that the river’s restoration be handled by Ciliwung-Cisadane Flood Control Office (BBWSCC) in January this year, because the residents were heavily dependent on the river.

“If it’s too polluted, the river will not be able to be used as raw water supply, not to mention that downstream people use the river for agriculture,” he said.

Luthfi added that it would be better if the river restoration was handled by the central government because the Bekasi administration would face budget constraints.

He said the administration had also gathered data on 18 factories along the river and had made them pledge not to dump untreated waste water into the river, although the agency had found several had not been compliant and it had to shut down their operations.

In October, impromptu inspections by then Bekasi mayor Rahmat Effendi found two factories, steelmaker PT Pratama Prima Bajatama and beverage-packaging company PT Prima Kemasindo dumping their waste into the river, and suspended their activities.

Luthfi said household waste water dumped in the river would soon have to be treated, as the city council was currently preparing a draft on domestic waste that will require residential areas to treat waste water before dumping it in a body of water.

He said currently the agency deployed 30 officials who were tasked with inspecting the rivers, occasionally cleaning them of waste, and investigating any possible sources of untreated waste.

On Thursday last week, the House of Representatives held a meeting discussing pollution in the Bekasi River and requested that the BBWSCC step in to restore and normalize the Bekasi River area, including the Cileungsi and Cikeas rivers.