Bandung – The West Java capital city, Bandung, is in the midst of a serious garbage crisis, with 200,000 cubic meters of trashed piled along its streets.

The problem, blamed on a lack of final dumping sites, has been going on for the past month. Residents living around the city's two temporary dumping sites in Cicabe and Pasir Impun are now rejecting incoming garbage.

The old sites have been reused due to the lack of alternative final dumping sites after Leuwigajah dumping site was closed following a garbage slide which killed more than 100 people in 2004.

In Cihargeulis market, for example, the mound of rubbish is now over two meters high and fills a third of the market area. area. Bandung produces 7,500 cubic meters of garbage a day.

"The garbage has not been disposed of for the past month. We're worried it might cause diseases," said a trader, Ucu.

But cleanliness will return soon, albeit temporarily. Bandung Mayor Dada Rosada has instructed a clean up campaign ahead of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's visit to observe National Awakening Day on May 20 and National Family Day at the end of June.