Batulicin, S Kalimantan (ANTARA) - Environment Minister Dr. Hanif Faisol Nurofiq assessed that Tanah Bumbu District in South Kalimantan Province has quite good waste management compared to other regions.
The Minister, whose origin is from this district, said that Tanah Bumbu is the region in Indonesia that has the most heavy equipment for waste processing.
"The only waste processing that has 10 heavy equipments is Tanah Bumbu," said Hanif when visiting Batulicin, Tanah Bumbu, Saturday.
In waste handling, Tanah Bumbu also plans to build sanitary and improve waste management using "Light Dependent Resistor" sensor system that can detect waste based on intensity of light it receives with the aim to separate organic and inorganic waste.
Tanah Bumbu, which a population of 400,000 people and produces 170 tons waste/day, carries out waste management seriosly from houselhold to the final waste disposal.
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During his visit, Hanif encouraged the community in "Bumi Bersujud" (Tanah Bumbu;s nickname) through village heads to initiate their residents to sort and select waste consistently.
"In the future, Tanah Bumbu will be a developed region, because its geographical potential is very supportive, so it is necessary to prepare human resources who are committed to handling waste independently," he said.
Menurut Hanif, saat ini pertumbuhan ekonomi di seluruh di Indonesia dipaksakan tumbuh hingga delapan persen secara Nasional oleh Presiden Prabowo Subianto.
Hanif disclosed that currently the government has an ambitious target to achieve eight percent Indonesia's economic growth nationally.
If economic growth increases, the residual waste wil also increase. Thus, the government is preparing to foster a culture of waste awareness from early age by implementing waste sorting and selecting.
"Today, waste handling in Tanah Bumbu District is quite good. We will instruct the regional head to prepare waste counselors," he said.
To this end, Hanif encouraged all elementary schools in this district to be adiwiyata or environmetally cultured school.
"We will monitor this program and we will bring a team next month to Tanah Bumbu to follow up on adiwiyata shools to build human resources who have a culture of caring about waste," he said.
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