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River troops: Jakarta's unsung heroes who try to keep city's waterways clean
The workers, wearing orange uniforms and matching rubber boots, are tasked with collecting trash to keep Jakarta’s rivers and riverbanks clean — no small feat in a city where littering remains a massive issue.
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Two "river troops" row along a river on a floating platform on Monday, Jan. 27. (The Jakarta Post/ Yunindita Prasidya)
At a modest rest area on a riverbank in Palmerah district in West Jakarta, several workers from the Jakarta Environment Agency Water Bodies Unit took refuge from the blistering heat as they got ready to go back to work after their lunch break came to an end.
The workers, wearing orange uniforms and matching rubber boots, are tasked by the agency with collecting trash to keep Jakarta’s rivers and riverbanks clean — no small feat in a city where littering remains a massive issue.
After finishing their afternoon shift on Jan. 27, the three workers observed the results of their physically taxing work, which they do daily for the city.
Every day, they row along the river on a floating platform and pick up the trash they find along the way. Small dump trucks drive along the riverbank to collect the trash, which is deposited every 200 meters or so. An excavator was also seen picking up trash piled on the riverbank.
One of the workers, Alvin Slamet Riadi, the site’s inspector, explained to The Jakarta Post the challenges the unit faced performing its duties.
“We have told people, ‘Please, don’t throw your trash in the river.’ ‘Yes, Sir, sorry, sorry’ they say, but when we leave their neighborhood, they throw [their trash in the river] again. Every day,” said the 40-year-old, who was born and raised in Jakarta.
