Banjarmasin Mayor H Muhammad Yamin HR implements waste sorting in every urban village as effort to handle waste emergency in the city.
"We require each urban village to have a waste sorting place, especially waste that has economic value and can be composted," he said in Banjarmasin, Thursday.
Any urban village that does not have an integrated waste management site (TPST) or TPS-3R, he said, a temporary sorting house must be provided, so that no much waste to be disposed to the temporary disposal (TPS).
"The remaining waste that cannot be sorted is disposed to the TPA Regional Banjabakula (regional final waste disposal) in Banjarbaru," he said.
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The Mayor said this effort is a serious measure taken by the Banjarmasin City Government to address waste emergency since the Basirih final waste disposal (TPAS) was closed by the Mnistry of Environment on February 1, 2025.
"We keep on coordinating with the Environment Ministry related to the closing of TPAS Basirih, hopefully there will be a good solution," he said.
Yamin hopes for leniency from the ministry to be able to re-operate TPAS Basirih, the only one owned by the city, so that the pile of garbage can be handled quickly.
One of the reasons is that waste disposal to regional landfill is limited to 105 tons, even though waste production in the Banjarmasin reaches 650 tons per day.
Previously, the Ministry of Environment had announced its planning to close 306 final disposal sites (TPA) that use open dumping system, which hurts the environment.
"We are no longer allowed to dump waste in TPA, but to address this issue from the upstream," Environment Minister Hanif Faisol Nurofiq said while participating in a beach clean-up activity at Kuta Beach, Bali, on Saturday, January 4, 2025.
Meanwhile, Mayor Yamin acnowledged that his side is preparing several long-term steps for better waste management in the city, including by using technology.
"We still loking for technology that fits our area which is almost entirely swampy, this requires input from various parties," he said.
But what is certain, he said, waste planting in this city is very critical, so quick steps are needed, otherwise waste will pile-up everywhere.
"Ilegal waste disposal points are popping up everywhere, this is our challange to overcome," he said.
Yamin asked for cooperation from all residents to handle this, because it is a shared resposibility to make this city clean and beautiful.
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Editor : Mahdani
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