The act was witnessed by members of local communities, the regional legislature (DPRD) and several Sundanese humanists on Sunday from 8.30 am to 11 am local time.
In less than three hours, the environmentalists managed to collect more than 100 sacks of garbage with each sack weighing at least 50 kilograms.
"We have prepared 100 sacks but it was not enough because too much garbage has piled up in the river, local residents said, adding that some 50 sacks and a garbage plastic bag had been removed from the river," Love Bogor Community leader Bagus Karyanegara said here Sunday.
Bagus said that the act launched along 1.5 kilometers along Katulampa dam, and managed to collect both organic and inorganic trash and dirt.
The collected garbage had been sent to the nearest waste landfill with the help of the local sanitation agency.
According to local neighborhood leader Dwi Cahyo, the trash collected from the Ciliwung river flowing through the capital city of Jakarta was not only from the upstream but also from the local residential areas.
Dwi said that a number of people in the neighborhood are still throwing garbage and dirt into the river because there are no landfill in the area.
"There is no local landfill in the area, people often burn or throw garbage into the river, because the sanitary agency`s trucks do not operate in the area," he said.
The garbage trucks from the local sanitary agency only operate two kilometers away from the area, and was hoping this condition would be improved.
Katulampa dam`s official Andi Sudirman said that the garbage can disrupt the river`s flow and also can cause flooding.
The trash deposits in the river bogged the water gates and irrigation channels.
"Garbage is also damaging the river`s panorama which should be clean," said Andi.
Andi said that the dam`s management regularly held a social service twice a week to clean the outskirts and picking up garbage from the river.
"If it is not raining the river cleaning operation can be done twice a month, or four times a week," he said.(*)
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Editor: Jafar M Sidik
Copyright © ANTARA 2012
