In a statement received on Tuesday, Amin urged the Indonesian Incinerator Producers Association (APII) to coordinate with the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (KLHK) and the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) over strengthening the incinerator quality.
"I recommend (the APII) regarding the incinerator quality standards to communicate or coordinate with the KLHK and the BRIN in order to secure standardization. To help the government, we also recommend coordinating with the COVID-19 Handling Task Force at the central level, the BNPB, and also in the regions," he stated during an audience with APII here on Monday.
Amin remarked that the management of COVID-19 infectious waste (B3) was part of the government's efforts to handle the COVID-19 pandemic. This waste should be handled properly, so that it does not have the potential to become a source of new transmission of COVID-19.
"The government is starting to work on the issue of handling COVID-19 waste. I welcome APII's initiative to help accelerate the process of handling B3 waste, which is currently needed," he noted.
The Vice President also remarked that several regions continued to encounter problems in handling COVID-19, as the local governments were still focused on stemming the spread of COVID-19.
"As a result of my meeting with several provinces (government), there are indeed many provinces that have not addressed this waste problem. In fact, this (COVID-19) waste is getting bigger day by day," he affirmed.
APII Chairman Rudy Indra Wardhana remarked that incinerator products from APII can treat waste effectively and are environment-friendly.
"Concerning the government's program to deal with the COVID-19 waste, which is quite a lot and cannot be disposed of carelessly, this incinerator is very effective because it can burn (waste) without causing smoke that pollutes the environment," he emphasized.
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Translator: Fransiska Ninditya, Raka Adji
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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