TheJakartaPost

Please Update your browser

Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.

Jakarta Post

Ignorance, lack of protection could be fatal for scavengers

High risk: A scavenger carries two bags of recyclable waste that she collected and sorted before selling them to a bigger collector in Central Jakarta in March 2019

Arya Dipa (The Jakarta Post)
Bandung
Sat, September 21, 2019

Share This Article

Change Size

Ignorance, lack of protection could be fatal for scavengers

H

igh risk: A scavenger carries two bags of recyclable waste that she collected and sorted before selling them to a bigger collector in Central Jakarta in March 2019.(JP/P.J.Leo)

Residents of Bandung, West Java, were shocked several months ago by the death of garbage collector Wawan Hermawan and the serious illness of his friend, Udin Samsudin.

Wawan died from a tetanus infection while his friend Udin suffered a blockage of blood vessels in the brain — both believed to have been the result of their daily handling of various types of waste without any proper protection.

Wawan used his cart to collect garbage from community unit (RW) 09 in Sukaluyu subdistrict. One day, he stepped on something sharp but left the wound untreated. Unbeknownst to him, the wound became infected by tetanus bacteria, which eventually killed Wawan. He is survived by his wife, three children and two grandchildren.

Udin also works as a trash collector in Sukaluyu. Despite being around the foul stench of waste all day, every day, Udin said he never wore masks on the job because they felt uncomfortable. One day, he felt dizzy and vomited. He went to a doctor for treatment and was told that he had a blocked blood vessel in his brain, likely from breathing in toxic fumes from chemical products mixed in with the waste he collects. Fortunately, Udin survived.

“We equip garbage collectors with masks, gloves and boots. But sometimes, they ignore the protective equipment, arguing that it would complicate their work,” RW 09 head Iwan Poernawan said recently.

A lack of safety standards and limited budget are often blamed for serious accidents and even the deaths of sanitation workers.

Bandung Environment and Sanitation Agency head Kamalia Purbani said the agency did not have the budget to properly protect them.

Bureaucracy limits her authority to the transportation of waste from temporary waste dumps to a final dump site, she said, adding that even garbage collecting fees were under the authority of the respective RW administrations.

This is also why such fees varied from one area to another, ranging from Rp 3,000 (21 US cents) to Rp 50,000 per household per month.

“Still, less than 30 percent of residents are willing to pay,” Kamalia said.

Concerned with these conditions, members of waste management communities in Bandung gathered over the weekend at Lansia Park in Sukaluyu. They spoke to garbage collectors and other stakeholders to discuss possible solutions to the problems.

Bijaksana Junerosano, founder of Greeneration Indonesia, blamed improper governance, weak law enforcement and lack of partnerships with residents for the dangerous working conditions garbage collectors face.

“It’s all rooted in financing because financing is the key to optimum garbage management,” Bijaksana said.

Gungun Saptari, Bandung’s city-owned sanitation company PD Kebersihan director, highlighted the need for collaboration among regional administrations to guarantee protection for workers.

One opportunity to boost protection, according to Gungun, was the regional empowerment and development innovation program (PIPPK) fund of Rp 100 million per RW in Bandung.

“This should have been communicated and executed well in subdistricts,” Gungun said, adding that ideally, garbage collectors were funded by the government, but it has yet to pay attention to the matter.

According to Biotechnology and Bioscience Development Foundation director David Sutasurya, residents could reduce the risk garbage collectors face by separating their waste.

“That way, garbage officers would just need to pick [the trash] without having to separate the items themselves,” said David, who works as a consultant for garbage management policy studies for a number of regional
administrations.

He said Bandung was preparing a mayoral decree obliging a certification for garbage collectors. The policy aimed at providing an official set of rules for them in safely and properly doing their job.

“It also contains a requirement [for households and companies] to separate their garbage,” he said.

Concerns regarding the lack of social security for garbage collectors have moved the public to do something about it. Using the crowdfunding platform kitabisa.com, Bijaksana collected Rp 39 million for Wawan’s family.

“We gave it all to his wife,” said kitabisa.com spokesperson Iqbal Hariadi.

Both Iqbal and Bijaksana agreed to create a special page on kitabisa.com titled “Pejuang Persampahan” (Garbage Fighters), hoping to prevent the tragedy from happening to other garbage collectors.

At present, the movement is collecting funds for garbage collector Suparno Arifin, 74, in Malang, East Java, whose house was destroyed in a fire, and for the family of a garbage collector who died while cleaning a street in Makassar, South Sulawesi.

“Hopefully, this movement can provide some form of social security for a neglected group of people,” Bijaksana said.

{

Your Opinion Counts

Your thoughts matter - share your experiences, suggestions, and any issues you've encountered on The Jakarta Post. We're here to listen.

Enter at least 30 characters
0 / 30

Thank You

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. We appreciate your feedback.