Dozens of children gathered on the banks of the Ciliwung river, right in the Satu Duit area of Bogor City, Sunday (24/7/2022). Some of them carried white sacks with different inscriptions. Organic, non-organic, stereophom, and textiles. Some of the others are eager to pick up scattered garbage and then put it in sacks according to their type.
"Here's someone throwing clothes in the river!" said a child as he showed off the clothes he found.
Soon, several sacks were filled with garbage. The garbage mulung event lasted quite a short time. About half an hour. After that, they gathered according to the group that had been divided before and then sat in a circle. Some drawing utensils such as white paper, pencils, crayons, and others were immediately taken out of their bags.
Raihan, a grade 6 student of SDN Kedung Badak I, deftly scratched the tip of the pencil on the white paper he was already holding. His hands were so skilled at making scratches that they formed a picture.
"I made a picture of the Ciliwung river. There are bridges and waterfalls too!" he said. He said, in fact, the Ciliwung river is beautiful. It's just that he regretted that at some point there was still scattered garbage.
"To make it cleaner, don't throw garbage into the river anymore. Take out the garbage in its place. So that it doesn't get flooded and dirty," he said.
Cleaning the Ciliwung river and drawing together is a series of events entitled "Ciliwung Rhapsody". It was held in commemoration of national river day. In addition to Bogor, similar events were also held in Kampung Tongkol, North Jakarta and Ciliwung Srengseng Jagakarsa School.
Bogor Sketcher Chairman Agus Ramdani said that the event was made to photograph everything around the Ciliwung river through sketch drawings. At the same time, it is also an educational facility for children and local residents to be more concerned about the cleanliness of the Ciliwung river. Some of the parties who collaborated to participate in the event included the Ciliwung River Naturalization Task Force, Plastic Smart Cities (PSC), and others.
He hopes that through this activity, there will be an awareness that the Ciliwung river is part of life. Not as a place to take out the garbage. Activities target children because they are the next generation who must have been concerned for the river from an early age.
When compared to the previous year, according to Agus, the condition of the Ciliwung river has improved. Moreover, in Bogor City, there is already a Ciliwung River Naturalization Task Force. The role of the Task Force team in overcoming various problems in the Ciliwung river is considered quite successful.
"This rainy season, thank God, there is no major disaster. In fact, in the past, in Satu Duit, there was a flood because there was a lot of garbage," he said.
Even so, Agus said, the work is still not finished. It still requires a lot of effort and synergy with various parties to restore the Ciliwung river.
"The problem of the Ciliwung river is the mindset and life of the surrounding community. It needs to be constantly educated. So understand that this river can be a clean and pleasant place," he said.
Suparno Jumar, an activist of the Ciliwung River Naturalization Task Force, said that the event was a form of good collaboration to build affection for the Ciliwung river. Children from an early age must be introduced to be able to maintain and care for the Ciliwung river. Because they are the ones who will continue the development process.
After the existence of the Ciliwung River Naturalization Task Force, continued Suparno, the condition of the Ciliwung river has improved a lot. The Task Force team strives to continue to collaborate with the surrounding community to overcome existing problems, including dealing with the waste problem. Education to the community also continues to be carried out. Even so, Suparno said, massive efforts on land must also continue. Namely inviting the community to sort waste starting from their homes. This is so that waste can be managed properly so that it is not wasted in the river. Moreover, if you look at the existing data, the amount of waste in the Ciliwung river from upstream to downstream can reach 70 tons per day. The majority of household waste, a lot of plastic waste.
"We're building understanding on the ground side of it. Actually, when humans produce plastic waste, it can be the raw material for other products. The origin of the existing garbage is sorted first according to its type. Especially now that in Bogor there is a PSC program," he said. As is known, Bogor became the first city in Indonesia to declare a PSC program. Through this program, plastic waste is expected to be drastically reduced.
According to Suparno, the PSC program also plays an important role in reducing the backlog of plastic waste in the Ciliwung river." I hope this PSC program can run well," he said. Suparno said that the garbage heap along the Ciliwung river was drastically reduced from the original 92 points. Indeed, at this time, there are still garbage heaps. But not as much as before.
This proves that the existence of the Ciliwung Naturalization Task Force is quite effective."We are still finding a way to find a way to get it gone. We also need to make sure that there are no new stockpiles in other areas.
"Another problem that exists in the Ciliwung river is that there are still septic tank channels and waste from MSMEs that are discharged into the river. It also includes many buildings that should not be on the riverbank. In restoring the Ciliwung river, continued Suparno, it is also necessary to pay attention to the flow of its sub-watershed. Because even though various efforts are made to restore the Ciliwung watershed if the sub-watershed flow is not treated the same, then the results will not be effective.
"This sub-watershed also contributes greatly to the waste that enters the Ciliwung river. I hope we can all take part in taking care of Ciliwung. Because the river is a vital object that we must protect together," he said.***
