Winning kampung leads with green thumbs

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Sat, 12/06/2008 11:40 AM 

 

 JP/J. Adiguna

 

A multitude of plants fill the garden of a community unit's (RW) office in Kebayoran Lama, South Jakarta. At the main entrance, small, unique chandelier ornaments made out of straws and other plastics greet the guest. 

Inside, around 20 women, who form community unit 07's participating group in the Family Welfare Program (PKK), held a meeting here recently to discuss health and environmental issues in their neighborhood. 

"These are not ordinary plants. All of them have medicinal qualities and can be used to treat cold, fever, sexual enhancement and even cancer," group member Endong Baso Ali said. 

The residents grow the herbs using home-made compost. They learned how to make compost through the Jakarta Green and Clean (JGC) 2008 program. Before this, the residents had to buy commercial compost. 

In RW 07, which is comprised of several neighborhood units (RT), most of the houses have three separate waste buckets: one for inorganic waste such as plastic, one for metal waste and one for organic waste. 

"Each household produces its own compost for growing the plants by putting their food leftovers in an organic waste bucket each day," Utiek, another PKK member, said. 

After being collected at the home level, the inorganic waste is deposited at "trash banks", available at each RT. The PKK members then reuse the waste to make crafts such as bags, wallets, umbrellas and ornaments that are then sold at exhibitions. 

"We learned the skills from the JGC program, which not only contributes to a cleaner environment, but opens up new jobs and income opportunities through the plastic waste recycling business," Utiek said. 

The RW 07 PKK members' hard work has earned them the "Jakarta Clean and Green Award", worth Rp 20 million (US$1,666), which was presented by Governor Fauzi Bowo at the JGC 2008 parade, held at the Hotel Indonesia circle last week. They topped the shortlist of 300 RWs from Jakarta's five municipalities, despite the fact that this was the first year they participated in the annual competition, now in its third year. 

Toiletries producer PT Unilever Indonesia initiated the JGC program with the support of the Republika daily newspaper, radio station Delta FM and NGO Aksi Cepat Tanggap, in collaboration with the city Environment Management Board (BPLHD). The program is part of Unilever's corporate social responsibility platform, designed to help communities find a solution to environmental issues the proper management of organic and inorganic waste. 

According to Utiek and the PKK members, the program is a win-win situation for both the community and Unilever. 

"We handle their waste and get some money, and they have their waste problems solved," Utiek said. 

However, Marwati, from RW 02 in Pasar Minggu, South Jakarta, which won fourth place, said that Unilever did not pay as much attention to her plastic crafts business compared to one of her peers in the neighborhood. 

"In this RW, we have three plastic waste processing centers. Only one center received a free sewing machine from Unilever. They also received help on the marketing and distribution of their products," she said. 

Marwati said Unilever told her they would only provide extra help on plastic processing centers that could deliver products that met the "required quality standard". 

"I don't think that is the right attitude. Each of us received the same training, tools and materials at the beginning of the program. The final products don't have a significant difference in terms of quality," she said. 

"But I am still very pleased with the JGC program. It helps a lot in transforming this neighborhood from what used to be dry and dusty into greener and cleaner," she added. (hdt)

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Airport plants trees

Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang

Soekarno-Hatta International Airport operator PT Angkasa Pura II started planting trees Saturday as part of a nationwide re-greening campaign.

In cooperation with the alumni association of the University of Indonesia, the company has plans to re-landscape 25 hectares at the airport and call it "Angkasa Pura II Forest".

"We've set a goal of planting 10 million trees ... to help (mitigate) climate change," said the company's president director Edi Haryoto.

He said the program was the brainchild of Sofyan Djalil, state minister for small and medium enterprises (center, planting a tree), who is also chairman of the alumni association.

The program began with some 36,000 saplings representing nearly one thousand different tree species.

While lawns and groves are often associated with exclusive clubs and housing estates, Sofyan spoke enthusiastically about a program that was for everyone. "There will be more than 500 million trees growing in the country in the next few years if we all start by planting at least one tree now.

"This initiative can help us combat global warming and reduce its impact."

Meanwhile, Edi said the green zones at the airport could serve the same function as a public park and would be suitable for jogging and bicycling.

Bandung's old trees pose dilemma, loved but feared by some residents

Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung

Unpredictable weather has seen some Bandung residents no longer look at their city's ancient trees with fondness and appreciation -- but as threat to their life.

The reason was A recent accident that killed tax office employee Yusli Rasyidin.

He was hit by an aging tree as it crashed to the ground during storms late August -- and this horrid accident is still fresh in many resident's minds.

So the people of Bandung have pushed for city administration to cut down some of the old trees, especially those in an obviously fragile condition.

Purnama, a West Dago resident, said he was worried he too might one day see the same terrible fate as Yusli.

"It will be more dangerous when the rain comes," Purnama said.

"More trees might fall down."

Most of the city's older trees can still be found along streets in north Bandung, mainly in Jalan Sumatra, Cihampeulas, Dago, Imam Bonjol and Ganesha.

The accident which killed Yusli took place on a clear and sunny day, when there was no rain or any sign of a storm.

Head of Bandung city Park Office, Yogi Supardjo, said the tree had fallen because its roots had become too old to stabilize it -- but that they had not been able to detect the tree's state in time.

He said the tree's roots could also have been damaged by members of the public dumping chemical and household waste, including vinegar-filled food leftovers.

"We're still investigating the accident now," Yogi said.

But he said he would not make any rash moves to cut down all the city's old trees.

In fact, he said Bandung needed some 600,000 more trees to provide a stable oxygen supply for the city's residents -- as well as to provide a cooler atmosphere and shade.

Data from the Environment Monitoring Agency in West Java, said Bandung's temperature had increased by 3 degrees Celsius.

The city's temperature once reached 30 degrees Celsius at most but was now climbing to sometimes 33 degrees, the data said.

Environment expert Mubyar Purwasasmita from non-governmental organization Observers Council of Sunda Plateau Environment and Forest said Bandung should have around 1.2 million trees to supply oxygen for its some 2.5 million residents.

"If people start to talk about cutting down old trees, tell them to wait a minute," Mubyar said.

"We need oxygen to live too and the main problem lies with poor supervision and maintenance by officials."

Yogi said there were less than 100 old trees found across several locations in northern Bandung.

He said his office had tried to prevent old trees from falling by cutting off fragile or too-heavy branches.

And the city has today imposed strict and multi-layered regulations to protect their old trees.

Laws around the environment and the city's 2005 local ordinance regulations would see fines of between Rp 5 million and Rp 100 million imposed on anyone found purposely damaging the city's trees.

Yogi blamed inadequate experience and a lack of technology to help his office learn more about the real condition of the city's oldest trees -- but he said they would do their best to preserve them.

In addition, he said there were plans to insure the city's older trees that could become a threat to pedestrians and motorists.

Jakarta administration has insured 4.6 million trees across the city and would pay insurance fees of Rp 150 million annually.

"We just want to take precautions.

"If there is an accident like the one that happened to Yusli, it will not be a problem for us to provide compensation," Yogi said.