Jakarta beats neighbors at cleanliness awards

Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

It may be a shock to some readers, but Jakarta's five municipalities have won the Adipura award, the country's only environmental prize for the cleanest and greenest cities Wednesday.

But the dirtiest cities in the annual competition, which was organized by the State Ministry for the Environment, were Jakarta's neighbors -- Bogor, Depok, Tangerang and Bekasi.

The capital's main thoroughfare, Jl. Sudirman in Central Jakarta, won the urban facility category, judged to be the best street in the country.

In addition, the Jakarta administration received an award out of all the provinces for the best written annual report on the environment.

However, the capital failed to receive the Adiwiyata award for clean schools, which was awarded to a state elementary school in Sukabumi, West Java.

The trophy for Adipura winners was handed over by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Wednesday, while the winners of Adiwiyata award and the environmental report award were announced by environment minister Rachmat Witoelar at the Hotel Sahid.

Rachmat said Jakarta's success could set a good example for the environmental efforts of the city's neighbors.

"Neighboring cities need to learn about how Jakarta treats its environment," he said.

Jakarta has long accused neighboring cities of damaging its environment. This is despite the fact that Jakarta dumps more than 6,000 tons of garbage in Bantar Gebang, Bekasi, every day.

Rachmat said the scoring system for the Adipura awards had been tightened after more administrations joined the program.

"There are now 362 cities ... joining this year's Adipura awards, compared to only 59 cities in 2002," he said.

The award looks at factors such as waste management and green areas to determine the winners.

The Adipura award requires administrations to promote composting efforts in areas such as schools, traditional markets, hotels, terminals and restaurants.

Mohammad Helmy, one of the Adipura judges and the ministry's deputy assistant for small scale enterprises and domestic waste pollution control, said Jakarta had done the best job of treating the organic waste.

"We've also seen the Jakarta administration's seriousness about increasing green and open spaces, for example by converting Menteng park into some of the city's green space," he said.

The city currently has only 5,911 hectares of green space, around 9 percent of the capital's total land area. This is far less than 30 percent stipulated by the Spatial Planning Law.

The administration is aiming for 9,156 hectares, or around 13.94 percent of Jakarta's area, as green space by 2010.

Governor Sutiyoso handed the Adipura awards to each of Jakarta's mayors before launching a victory parade through the capital.

"This is a great achievement and I am thankful to all the mayors who succeeding in leading their people to a live a clean life," said Sutiyoso said.

Jakarta's municipalities, with the exception of East Jakarta, also received the award last year.

"This is a precious gift, but I am not satisfied until all the rivers flowing through Jakarta are clean," said Sutiyoso, whose term will end in October.

"We have to maintain our cleanliness so the awards won't go to other cities."